Every Time We Touch
by iGoToExtremes
Summary: AU NYC!Finchel.  Now rated M.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello readers. We meet again.

This is a fill for the Finchel-prompt "Relax," in which Rachel gets a spa gift certificate and Finn winds up being her masseuse. (Although technically a masseuse is a woman so I refer to him as a "masseur," as you will see if you keep reading.)

I do not own Glee or West Side Story.

Hope you enjoy. This is going up unbetaed so feel free to point out typos or other errors that I will happily fix.

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><p>Rachel rode the elevator up to the 26th floor of the hotel and entered the spa through the pretty glass doors.<p>

"Hello," she said as she approached the front desk. "I'm Rachel Berry, I have a 2:30 appointment for a massage."

The receptionist, a pretty blonde whose name tag read "Laura", welcomed her and asked her to have a seat in the waiting area. A few minutes later another young woman, "Samantha", appeared and led Rachel to a locker room, where she changed into a fluffy bathrobe and stowed her clothes and purse in a locker. After that she was shown to a lounge area with big cushy armchairs, a small indoor fountain, and gentle mood music playing in the background.

Rachel had never even considered a spa treatment until she picked a gift certificate from her cast's holiday grab bag. Massages were supposed to be relaxing, she realized, but she was used to keeping busy and her schedule didn't allow for 90 minutes of doing essentially nothing. Her gift-grab caused a bit of eye-rolling amongst her castmates, and she thought she heard their director mutter something about how much it'd take to get her unwound.

When told about the incident, her roommate Santana roommate grimaced slightly before diplomatically declaring that everyone can use a little unwinding now and then.

"Besides," Santana had smirked. "Maybe you'll get a cute masseur. You deserve some male attention, even if you have to pay for it."

Rachel had gasped at the innuendo and thrown a couch cushion at her.

"Ms. Berry?" A deep voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up to see that it belonged to a striking, tall, dark-haired man who appeared to be about her own age. He was dressed in a nicely-fitted polo shirt bearing the spa's logo, tucked into a pair of khakis with a brown belt.

"Yes, that's me!" she said brightly, trying to match his warm, inviting smile.

"I'm Finn, I'll be taking care of you today." He sat down in the chair opposite her and explained what the basic massage entailed. Then he asked if there were any particular areas of her body that she felt needed work, and offered to answer her questions. During their conversation his gaze was sincere and attentive, and Rachel felt herself pulled in by his caramel-colored eyes.

Once they finished talking she followed him down a long hallway. His height gave him something of a lumbering gait, but there was a certain playfulness to each step that made it more adorable than awkward.

Rachel wished she still had her phone so she could text Santana that she got a cute masseur.

Finn led her to a small dimly lit room, and folded back the white linens covering the large massage table. "I'll wait outside while you, um, get undressed and slip under here, and I'll knock when I'm going to come back in. Okay?" He rubbed the back of his neck shyly and glanced down at the floor as he spoke.

"Great," she said, blushing a little at the thought of her impending nudity.

* * *

><p>Finn gently closed the door behind him and exhaled loudly. What was wrong with him? He'd been doing this for a sufficiently long time and was usually able to deal with attractive female clients without getting flustered. But this girl was... different. She was very pretty in an exotic way and had a certain friendly warmth that made him want to get to know her.<p>

He knocked lightly on the door and opened it a crack.

"Ms. Berry? Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

After her reply he strode to his small supply table in the corner of the room, making sure that the appropriate oils and lotions were ready.

"And please," she added sweetly as he turned to her and stepped towards the table, "call me Rachel."

Her words made his heart thump in his chest, and he began working on her left shoulder. Her skin was soft - the softest he'd felt in a long time... and his entire job was to touch people.

'Come on, Hudson,' he thought to himself, 'stay professional.'

"So... Rachel," he said softly while he moved to her right shoulder. "What do you do?" He liked to initiate small talk with clients just to let them know he was there to listen.

"I'm actually a Broadway actress," she said somewhat shyly. "Right now I'm in the revival of West Side Story."

"Cool." He pressed on a particularly tough knot, mentally cursing himself for not knowing _anything_about theater. "Are you from New York originally?"

"I wish!" she exclaimed. "I came here for college. I'm originally from Columbus."

"No way! I'm from Lima, in western Ohio."

"Imagine that coincidence," she sighed under the pressure of his elbow on her shoulder blade.

* * *

><p>Their conversation wound down as Rachel relaxed into the table amidst the ministrations of Finn's large hands. She wanted to continue talking to him, to discuss their common Ohio routes and ask how long he'd been in New York, but she was physically unable to speak while the feeling of comfort spread through her body.<p>

All her worries seemed to melt away and her thoughts fell perfectly into place. Whatever embarrassment she experienced initially had been replaced by a calm sense of peace. It was like Finn was _meant _to be touching her. She hadn't realized just how tense she'd been until his soft fingertips soothing the anxiety away.

Maybe there was something to this massage thing after all.

Before she knew it their time was up.

"It was great meeting you, Rachel." Finn whispered. "I hope you enjoyed that."

After he excused himself she slipped out from under the blankets and put her robe back on. When she exited the small room she was surprised to see Samantha waiting for her instead of Finn.

"Finn had to go meet his next client so he asked me to walk you back to the locker room," she explained.

"Oh," Rachel replied, still blissfully relaxed.

She was going to need to see Finn again.

* * *

><p>"Did my 2:30, uh, book another session before she left?" Finn asked as he approached the reception area later that evening. He tried to seem casual as he poured himself a cup of water from the cooler.<p>

"Don't they always?" Laura said with a smirk. "She'll be back next Thursday. And she left you this," she added, handing him one of their small tip envelopes adorned in cute, loopy script.

_**Thanks Finn! See you next week!**_

-R  
>:-)<p>

He tried his hardest not to blush as he walked away.

* * *

><p>After a hectic 10 days of sold-out shows and a crazy New Year's Eve party, Rachel found herself back on Finn's massage table.<p>

"Can I ask what brought you to New York?" she asked as he pressed firmly on her lower back.

"Of course." She could practically _hear_ his charming smile as he answered. "After I finished school I got a job with the Rangers."

"The Rangers," Rachel repeated. "They play… football?"

"Hockey. Here in midtown," he explained.

She cringed. Of course the team played right under her nose and she had no idea. It's a wonder straight men could even stand her and her complete ignorance of sports. "How long did you work for them?"

"Around four years, until last May. Between training camp, preseason, and playoffs the NHL season lasts about 8 or 9 months of the year, and obviously it's a lot of travel. So when I met someone and it got serious, she made it clear that she didn't want me away so much. But after I started working here and was around all the time, I realized that the relationship wasn't actually, like, _good_." She could feel his hands tighten a little as he spoke. "This job is great, though, and a nice change of pace from the pro sports setting. So something positive came out of the whole thing." He paused. "Sorry, that was probably way more detail than you were expecting."

"No!" she practically shouted (although thankfully it was muffled by the table). "I mean... it's totally fine. _I'm _certainly glad you're here now instead of off with the sweaty hockey players."

He laughed heartily at her comment.

She definitely liked this guy.

"How's your show going?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh, it's more stressful than I ever imagined. I've been in the ensemble of Broadway productions before but this is my first supporting role. There's just so much pressure and _scrutiny _– more so even than the lead role in an off-Broadway or touring production."

"Ah, that's tough. But I'm sure you can handle it. You had to work really hard to get to where you are now, right?"

"You could say that," she conceded as he tenderly kneaded the backs of her calves. "I just wish the environment was more cooperative and less adversarial…"

* * *

><p>Finn listened to Rachel's tale of clashing with cut-throat co-stars and insensitive casting agents and overbearing directors. Even as she spoke of the trials and tribulations of her career she did so with a positive and spunky energy. He marveled at how someone so small could <em>have <em>that much energy and enthusiasm.

"… and I _realize _that I can be just as competitive as the next gal, but it's all in the spirit of wanting to put on a great performance every night," she went on. "Other people are just vicious and lately it feels like they're trying to sabotage me for some reason."

"Well, I for one can't imagine anyone not liking you."

He froze for a split-second, worrying that the statement was too forward.

But he felt Rachel's pulse increase, and his face grew hot at the evidence of mutual attraction between them.

"Thanks, Finn. I appreciate that."

Her sincere reply only made his blush more intense, and he thanked Grilled Cheesus that she was on her stomach and couldn't see his face.

* * *

><p>"Rachel, right? I didn't realize you had an appointment today," Laura clicked her mouse and focusing intently at her computer screen.<p>

"Uh, I don't, actually." She half-smiled awkwardly as she stood in the spa reception area on Monday. "But my plans for this evening fell through, and I've already been having a crazy week, so I was hoping Finn was available."

"Let me see..." She perused the screen momentarily. "You're in luck, it looks like he can see you in about 20 minutes. Have a seat for just a second and we'll get you right in."

After a few minutes Samantha appeared. "Can you run and tell Finn that he has a walk-in for a 4:30?" Laura asked when she passed by, throwing a glance in Rachel's direction, after which Samantha raised her eyebrows.

Rachel pretended not to notice the exchange, willing her giddy insides to quiet down.

* * *

><p>"Finn? Finn!"<p>

He was so involved in his workout and the music blaring from his headphones that he barely heard Sam until she was practically flailing in front of him.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" he asked, turning down his iPod and wiping the sweat off of his neck with a towel.

"You have a walk-in for a 4:30."

His brow wrinkled in thought and he couldn't hold back the hopeful half-grin. Could it be?

"You stand a better chance if you take a shower," Sam called over her shoulder as she left the small gym.

* * *

><p>"Rachel?" she heard Finn's voice as he entered the room, where she was already set up on the massage table.<p>

"Hi." She leaned up on her forearms and smiled as they greeted each other. His hair was more tousled than usual and appeared to be wet from a shower.

"Sorry you had to wait, I was in the gym when you got here," he explained as he quickly remedied his materials.

"Oh! I apologize for taking you away from that."

"No apology necessary."

He grinned at her and she melted inside before settling back down onto the table.

As usual he began the massage with her left shoulder. "Any particular reason you're back so soon?"

"Ooh, it's my technical director," she groaned. "He says I've been taking too many risks and my 'edgy' portrayal of Anita is fouling up the dynamic of the show. But I _need_ to take those risks to make a name for myself and get another role. Our run is closing in just a few weeks and going out with a bit of a bang will help me get auditions. I obviously don't want to go overboard and ruin the show, but he's too sensitive about everything so I'm not sure if I should take his criticism to heart."

Finn was silent, simply kneading the skin on her back until she relaxed under his touch.

"Anyway, the fact that this could impact my subsequent career path is just stressing me out." She hoped it all passed for a good enough excuse to randomly drop in on him like this.

"That's understandable," he empathized, sliding his strong hands down her left arm.

"But speaking of career paths," she continued with a little giggle, eager to change the subject, "I've been wanting to ask you…"

"How does a kid from Lima wind up becoming a masseur?" he finished her thought in a playful tone.

"You can't blame me for being curious," she teased him.

"That's fair," he chuckled before sighing slightly. "It was my high school girlfriend's idea, although I'm pretty sure she meant it as a joke. She apparently had a whole future planned out for us – she'd become a real estate agent, I'd work in my stepdad's tire shop and eventually take over."

"Did you want to do that?" She didn't exactly mind the image of a greasy Finn dressed in garage coveralls that crept into her head.

"I worked in the shop a little bit back then, but I never considered it as a long-term thing. The problem was that I'd never really thought about my future at all. When Quinn and I were seniors and needed to seriously think about our plans we had a big fight, which mainly consisted of her screaming at me for not taking life seriously. Then as a way of apologizing she made a list of other possible careers for me. Aside from this, there was police officer, firefighter, mailman, short-order cook..."

"And _'masseur' _was the one you decided to pursue?" She didn't mean to laugh at him but it sounded so random.

"Well at first 'masseur' grabbed my attention because I had no idea what the hell it meant." They both laughed. "But once she explained it to me I did some research and thought about it, and it seemed worth a shot."

"And she was supportive?"

"At first, yeah. I went to school in Akron and she went to OSU. I'd love to say it was the distance that made things tough, but mostly I think she didn't like the idea of me having my own existence and future possibilities. When I went away I realized that she had been trying to force me into her cookie-cutter life agenda and never let me think for myself at all. Once I learned about all the things I could do with my degree, I felt like I could make something of myself and be successful, you know? Meanwhile she wasn't even excited _at all_, and she told me to be more realistic and not get my hopes up. I confronted her about her discouraging attitude and she said that if I thought I could get out of Ohio and do better I shouldn't let her stop me. She probably thought I was bluffing, but I finally felt good enough to stand up for myself. So that was that."

Rachel had no idea what to say in response to Finn's story, which was both heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

"You probably think I'm so lame, letting women push me around and influence these big decisions," he said softly with a hint of shame in his voice.

"Not at all," she insisted right away. "I think you're very caring and sweet and eager to make those around you happy. Even if you've been a little naive in doing so."

"That's putting it mildly," he chided.

After that he had her turn onto her back for the remainder of the massage, during which they chatted about their respective roommates and experiences as Ohio kids in the big city. As always, their time together flew by.

"I had a really nice time today," she said, immediately tensing as she realized that her statement was something one says after a date. They _had _spent literally the entire session talking about fairly personal matters, but still...

"Would you like to go out sometime?" Finn blurted out the question before she could ponder the predicament any further.

She sat up on her elbows a little bit. He looked adorably sheepish in the wake of his question, waiting for the answer that he likely already knew was coming.

"I'd love to."

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><p>Reviews are love!<p>

I can be persuaded to continue this if people want to see further adventures of masseur!Finn and Broadway!Rachel. In this chapter I really wanted to focus on conveying the developing feelings between them and I'm afraid that I totally missed the mark. But if I didn't convey anything at all then maybe I should just leave them alone.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Because I'm a sucker for satisfying public demand, this story is continuing. A whole heap of thanks to **wood-u-like-2-no **for bouncing ideas and helping me formulate an overall plot that doesn't suck. Also, credit to **politics**.**and**.**prose **for suggesting the title. The song of same name, performed by Cascada, really has nothing to do with the story, but I wanted something with "touch" in the title and it was the best we could do.

Rating is still T but it'll probably change to M sometime soon. Like ya do.

I still don't own Glee, etc.

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><p>Finn whistled cheerfully as he entered the spa's reception area for a cup of water.<p>

"I noticed that Rachel didn't book another appointment after she left today." Laura didn't even look up from her computer screen as she dryly offered her observation.

"Yeah, I guess she's no longer interested in my services," he said casually, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

He couldn't openly discuss his date with Rachel because of the corporate policy that prohibited "casual dating" of clients. Surely Laura and Sam suspected something already and he wouldn't keep them in the dark forever, but he needed to tread carefully in the short-term. Obviously Rachel couldn't use him again, and he didn't want the manager to catch onto the fact that she stopped coming to the spa solely because she and Finn were seeing one another. It wasn't too worrisome since the winter months were usually busy, and the higher-ups wouldn't necessarily notice that someone had three massages and was never heard from again.

Explaining this minor obstacle to Rachel had been surprisingly easy. Then again, everything about their interactions had always been easy.

He smiled as he waited for his last client of the day, trying to brainstorm ideas for their first date later that week.

* * *

><p>"Hold up, the masseur asked you <strong>out<strong>? And you said yes?" Santana exclaimed when she got home that night and Rachel informed her of the day's events. "Did you even, like, talk to him? All you ever mentioned to me was that he was 'dashing'..." She raised her voice in a flourish as if imitating Rachel before joining her on their small couch.

"He **is** dashing, and his name is Finn, and he's also from Ohio. And he's very kind and sweet."

"Probably good with his hands, too," her roommate added, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Well, the massages **were **amazing," Rachel admitted with a sigh, shyly biting her lip at the memory of Finn's hands on her body a few hours earlier. "But as far as what you're suggesting, he was a perfect gentleman," she added in a prim and proper tone.

"Damn, Diva, you are _smitten_," Santana assessed, making Rachel conscious of her own dreamy distant gaze. "So when are you seeing Finn the dashing masseur?"

"Thursday," she answered, beaming.

"Wow, you two aren't wasting any time," the other woman commented with a roll of her eyes before her expression hardened. "He better not screw you over," she added coldly.

"Aww, Tana, your overprotective threats are so cute," Rachel teased, engulfing her roommate in an abrupt, overzealous hug.

"Yeah, yeah..." Santana did her best to downplay her concern and shake Rachel off.

"Seriously though, I have a good feeling about this guy," Rachel assured her, unable to shake her mile-wide grin.

* * *

><p>"Wait, you were in <em><strong>glee club <strong>_in high school?" Rachel exclaimed, her bright brown eyes beaming at him from across the table.

"Yep," he replied, conscious of the pink creeping across his cheeks. "My Spanish teacher ran the club and blackmailed me into joining."

"Blackmail?" she repeated with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of dirt did he have on you?"

"He claimed he found pot in my locker. It definitely wasn't mine, but he started right in on the consequences and I panicked. Joining glee seemed like a picnic compared to suspension or expulsion... or castration, when my mom found out."

"But... how did he even know you could sing? **Could**you sing?" she teased.

"He happened to be in the locker room after football practice one day. I didn't think anybody was around so I _may_have been busting out a little REO Speedwagon while taking a shower."

Rachel giggled. "High school athlete singing classic rock in the locker room shower. No cliche there."

Her infectious laughter made him smile at the memory. "Yeah, not the most creative moment of my life," he admitted.

"So why did he need to trick you into joining? And why did he want you to join so badly?" Her eyes lit up as she eagerly spat out follow-up questions.

Finn normally didn't like talking about his brief time in glee, but her enthusiast curiosity spurred him on. "The group only had a handful of members and he was trying to get it going again. He thought that as a 'popular' dude I could step up and lead and get more people to join."

"Did it work?" she asked cautiously.

Finn exhaled, shaking his head. "Nah, the club fell apart after a few months. I did my best to recruit members, but there was some… drama, and it just didn't work out," he said quickly, trying his best not to seem too uneasy. "Besides, we were missing that one really talented person who could lead by example and push everyone to do their best," he lamented.

"That's a shame. You would've been quite the renaissance man as a combination glee stud **and **star athlete."

"It might've been nice, I guess," he added with a shrug, happy to move away from the topic as the waiter cleared their plates and took their dessert orders. "I actually met my stepbrother in glee. That's how my mom and stepdad got together…"

* * *

><p>Rachel listened as Finn recounted the story of Kurt setting their parents up, and explained his initial trepidation because of Kurt's obvious crush on him. He frankly admitted how difficult it was for him to accept the idea of his mom remarrying, let alone learn to stand up to the bullies who mercilessly taunted his new sibling.<p>

"It was tough, but it all worked out," he concluded. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Rachel instinctively smiled, happy that he wanted to know more about her. Usually she was nervous about discussing her upbringing but she really felt like she could talk to Finn about anything.

"No," she answered. "I actually have two dads, so I was conceived via surrogate, and that was it for them. At the time I loved being an only child and having all of their attention, but looking back I think I would have enjoyed having a sibling."

"I understand that," Finn responded, totally unphased by her description of her family, as she had predicted. "It was weird to grow up as an only child and then suddenly get a brother at 17. But now that it's been so many years we're really close. We've actually been living together the past six months." After pausing to take a bite of his chocolate cake, he smiled at her and added, "I think he'll really like you."

Rachel felt her cheeks redden as his kind eyes fixed on hers. "I'm sure I'll like him too." She looked down and scooped another spoonful of her melting sorbet, afraid that she would literally dissolve as well if she kept staring into Finn's adoring gaze.

After they finished dessert he paid the bill and they headed out onto the street. The air was crisp but rather mild for January, so they decided to head a few blocks north to Central Park for a walk.

As they began the trek their arms brushed, and after a beat Rachel felt Finn's large leather-gloved hand slip around her small cotton-covered one. Even through the two layers of material the contact made her heart beat a little faster. They entered the park on 59th Street and started northbound along the path that paralleled Fifth Avenue.

"Did you always want to be an actress?" Finn asked.

"Oh, you know, only since birth," she replied snarkily, elliciting a hearty laugh from Finn. "My dads didn't know what else to do with a hyper little girl so they put me in dance classes and singing lessons at an early age. And my high school had a very active music and drama department so I sang in a few different choral groups and acted in the spring musical every year. As a freshman I came in very naively driven and fairly obnoxious in my quest to be the _star_." She embellished the last word for effect.

"Obnoxious? I can't imagine that," he said without hesitation, flashing a genuine lopsided grin that melted her heart yet again.

"Oh I was," she said with an embarrassed laugh. "There were several other talented people who put me in my place, which only pushed me to be a better performer. Everyone had their big dreams and – in a super-competitive, self-centered way – we encouraged each other to reach them."

"I'm guessing not all of them became Broadway actors, though."

"Nope." Rachel indulged in a satisfied sigh. "Most of my friends viewed singing and acting as hobbies instead of career options and went into other fields. A few people took the 'practical' route and studied music education in college instead of just performance. The guy I dated for most of high school is an actor, but he's in LA."

"LA actor, huh? Has he been in anything I might've seen?"

"Maybe. So far he's had a few minor roles in movies. And I think he's been in a few pilots but none of them were picked up for full seasons."

Because Finn had shared the pitfalls of his prior relationships she felt comfortable mentioning Jesse, but didn't feel quite ready to go into the details of their history and casually changed the subject.

"Are you still in touch with your high school friends?"

"Some of them, here and there…" he began.

Their conversation continued accordingly as they kept walking. By the time they moved onto discussing their college experiences they'd reached the park's exit onto 79th Street, where they altered their course eastbound toward Rachel's apartment.

"Well, this is me," she said once they'd reached her building, trying to control the butterflies in her stomach as she turned to face Finn, their hands still entwined.

"I had such a nice time tonight," he said immediately.

"I did too," she responded with a shy smile. "Thanks for dinner."

"My pleasure." He gave her fingers a little squeeze while his other hand came to rest on her opposite elbow. "Can we do it again sometime?"

"Of course. How about Sunday?" She bit her lip, a little embarrassed at admitting that she wanted to see him again so soon.

A grin spread across his entire face, which looked especially innocent and boyish amidst his rosy cheeks and wool winter hat. "Great. I'll call you Saturday with details?"

"Sure," she nodded happily, her smile widening to match his.

Finn hesitated for a moment before cautiously leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. The contrast of his soft, warm lips on her cold face sent a jolt down the side of her body.

"Good night, Rachel." He gave her hand and arm a final squeeze before stepping back.

"Good night, Finn," she managed to squeak as he turned and headed down the block towards Lexington Avenue.

Once he disappeared around the corner Rachel leaned against the vestibule doorframe, allowing the significance of the moment wash over her.

She really didn't want to get her hopes up, not with what she'd been through. But she couldn't shake the feeling that Finn was very special.

* * *

><p>Finn exited the subway downtown and practically floated along the sidewalk and up the stairs to the apartment he shared with Kurt.<p>

"Well hello there, Cassanova." Kurt greeted him immediately as he washed a dish in their small galley kitchen. "How was the date with your budding Broadway diva?"

"Dude, it was incredible," he stated as he hung his coat in the closet. Then he sidled up to the kitchen entrance and leaned against the wall while he recounted the highlights of his evening.

"I'm sure she's lovely, Finn, and it _**does**_ sound like she and I would get along," Kurt began, "but—"

"_**But…?**_" Finn joined in for Kurt's usual expression of doubt.

Kurt merely rolled his eyes at Finn's imitation of him before continuing. "I just worry about you diving into another relationship with a bossy, controlling woman who will only turn your life upside down and break your heart."

Finn sighed. "I know you think she's that way because of her job, but trust me. She's not like the others. She's… kind, and energetic, and accepting." He looked off to the side. "I feel like she's just really, _**really **_special."

* * *

><p>AN2: Please let me know what you think! The purpose of this chapter is to set the table for all further installments, so your input is especially appreciated.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

AN: This chapter came out a lot longer and took a different route than I intended. But, uh, I think it's still pretty good.

Still don't own Glee. Still rated T. No beta this time so blame all mistakes on me.

o0o*0o0* o0o*0o0*o0o*0o0*o0o*0o0*o0o*0o0*o0o*0o0*

Their second date on Sunday night involved dinner at a Greek restaurant and a hand-in-hand walk up Park Avenue instead of through Central Park. Notwithstanding those differences, Finn and Rachel engaged in meaningful conversation and flirty glances just as the first time.

When they reached Rachel's doorstep, Finn immediately leaned down and pressed his soft lips against hers, the contact sending a warm sensation across her face. She quickly shed her gloves and abandoned them in her coat pockets, fingertips flying to touch Finn's cold, red cheeks. His hands gripped her shoulders while he deepened the kiss, darting his hot tongue into her waiting mouth with just the right amount of eagerness and urgency.

It'd been so long since she was properly kissed, let alone felt a fire spreading through her entire body from the simple act. As their tongues dueled Finn's arms wrapped around her back and pulled her flush against him, the heat between them palpable even amidst the frigid winter air. Rachel gave into the feelings, letting out a quiet moan and closing her eyes and generally reveling in Finn's attentions.

"You two could move this inside, so you don't freak out all the neighbors while freezing to death." Santana's exaggeratedly surly tone interrupted their blissful moment.

Rachel pulled back a little and collected herself, embarrassed grin and all. "Finn, this is my roommate Santana," she stated simply with a small giggle.

"Good to meet you, Santana," Finn said with a calm, warm smile. "Rachel's told me all about you."

"Yeah, I've heard about you, too. And now that I've seen more than I intended, I'll leave you to it." With that she strode up the stairs and into the small brownstone apartment building.

"Don't worry about her," Rachel assured him once Santana was in the vestibule and thus out of earshot. "Like I said at dinner, her bark is much worse than her bite."

Finn chuckled, shaking his head as he watched the Latina retreat through the inside door and away from view. When he looked back at Rachel she realized that they were still standing very close together in a sort of half-hug, evidence of their interrupted moment. She wondered how far things would have escalated had Santana not disturbed them, and felt a bit self-conscious for letting herself get carried away.

While she pondered her insecurities Finn wrapped his arms around her again, sighing and tenderly rubbing her back. The simple gesture made her feel safe and at ease. After a few seconds she pulled back so they had space to make eye contact, and he brushed a few stray hairs out of her face. The light strokes to her cheek and his adoring gaze ignited the butterflies in the pit of her stomach, but the feeling was nothing like the passionate fire that had been burning while they kissed.

"I should probably head home anyway." His resigned tone acknowledged that slowing down probably wasn't the worst idea. Nonetheless, he leaned down again and kissed her sweetly, taking her hands in his. "When are you free this week?"

"I'm off all day Thursday," she offered hopefully.

Finn squeezed her hands. "Awesome. I'll check my schedule and plan something fun for us to do." He stole another kiss, this time slipping just a little tongue again. Then he wished her good night before slinking away down the quiet street.

Still buzzing from the events on the stoop, Rachel let herself into the building and climbed the stairs to the small second-floor apartment she shared with Santana. The two girls had been randomly paired to live together for their sophomore year at NYU, and had done so voluntarily since then. They meshed well as roommates because they were similarly driven and outgoing, but applying their ambition to different areas meant that they stayed out of each other's way.

When she entered Santana was stretched out on their small couch with a large Intellectual Property Law textbook on her lap. "Glad you two kids have decided to bring your wholesome—oh, you're alone."

"Yes, I'm alone. Part of me wants to be angry with you for disrupting that intimate moment and giving my attractive male companion your usual _rough _ treatment," Rachel began as she took off her coat and hung it in the front closet. "However, I am glad that your interruption preventing me from rushing into anything, since Finn and I really don't know each other that well just yet."

"He really _**is**_ attractive," her roommate remarked, raising an eyebrow suggestively and sitting up to make room for Rachel on the couch. "But I'm glad you're being careful."

"I keep wondering if I really need to be so guarded, though." She sat besides Santana and hugged a small throw pillow to her chest. "Finn is just so sweet, and caring, and gentlemanly. He's totally not like the others."

"There really only was **one** 'other', right? I mean I know you've had the occasional date but I can't imagine you successfully hiding some kind of secret boyfriend or long-term fuckbuddy from me."

"Yes, to this point in time I have only had one 'real' relationship." Rachel confirmed this fact with a roll of her eyes. She knew that it was in Santana's nature to be snide and at this point didn't take her overbearing need to be right as a personal attack.

"Yeah, and the douche from that relationship can suck it, as far as I'm concerned. You're on the verge of your dream of Broadway stardom – with a cute new guy after you, I might add – and what's _**he **_doing? Toiling away in B-movies and lame sitcom pilots. And you know that even if the bastard's gotten some hot L.A. lady action he's destined to be hopelessly alone."

Rachel had to laugh at Santana's scathing assessment. "It's amazing how you can say all that considering the two of you have never actually met." She paused and took a deep breath. "Regardless of what Jesse is up to, I'm really trying to focus on the present and the immediate future instead of whatever issues I may have had in the past," she said resolutely.

At the moment, her only problem involved Thursday being a whole four days away.

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"Are you sure this is your first time?" Finn teased her as her bright pink ball went straight into the gutter for the third frame in a row.

Rachel quietly huffed at him, shoving his side playfully. It was really cute.

He'd suggested bowling for their third date because romantic dinners are great but can only get a guy so far. And when she mentioned that she'd never _**been **_bowling before, well, that sealed the deal. They'd met at the bowling alley mid-afternoon once he finished with his few appointments for the day.

He bowled his next frame, downing 7 pins on the first throw and picking up the spare with the second ball.

"I guess chivalry isn't alive and well, since you're clearly not going easy on me."

"Do you want me to help with your next throw?"

Rachel blushed a little. "Sure."

He showed her how to set up a few strides from the beginning of the lane, his hand on her throwing elbow as she gripped the ball and held it squarely in front of her. Due to their close proximity he could smell her shampoo, the unmistakeable scent of apple cinnamon warming his nostrils.

"Like this?" she asked as she began a practice stride. Finn guided her through the forward movements, brushing against her pliant body while he mimicked her steps and helped her swing the ball back at the appropriate time.

"Yeah, I think you got it," he encouraged her, stepping back so she could try again on her own and actually, you know, throw the ball.

She repeated the action to completion, and sure enough knocked down six of the ten pins.

"Yes!" she exclaimed in triumph, arms raised victoriously as she bounced back down the lane and high-fived Finn with both hands.

Rachel successfully knocked over at least a few pins on each subsequent shot, hooting and hollering in celebration after each successful throw.

Finally, on her second-to-last frame, she picked up her first spare.

"Wooo!" This time Finn joined in her cheers, picking her clear up off the ground and making her squeal even louder.

Then their eyes met and he found himself hypnotized by her gaze. There was something about being close to Rachel that made Finn forget everything else in the world.

The fact that she immediately quieted made him guess that the feeling was mutual.

Suddenly aware that it was strange to be holding her and staring for so long, he leaned forward to give her a quick peck on the lips before setting her down.

"Nice shot," he said, squeezing her shoulder.

"Thanks." She beamed up at him, face flushed from all the excitement.

They finished off their game, returned the rented bowling shoes, and prepared to step out into the winter evening chill in search of some dinner.

"I know a great noodle place near here," Rachel mentioned as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Finn smiled and offered her his arm. "Lead the way."

She slipped her hand around his elbow and settled next to him as they began to walk. After a minute or so of comfortable silence she sighed.

"Thanks for suggesting bowling. It was really fun. Not to mention it totally distracted me from the fact that I'll be unemployed in 2 weeks."

"Aww, I'm sure you'll find another part really soon. You've been on what? Like, 4 auditions?"

"Only 3, and no call-backs yet," she replied dejectedly.

He hated seeing her so down about things. "Well you'll get something, I'm sure of it."

"How can you say that if you've never even seen me perform?" she teased, looking up at him with a sly grin.

At least he hoped it was teasing. Regardless, he knew how to parlay it to his advantage.

"Is than an invitation?" He tried to make his voice a combination of sincere and sexy and had no idea if it came out as intended.

"It can be." She smiled, staring straight ahead without looking up at him, and he relaxed.

After another block they arrived at the small storefront of the restaurant and stepped inside. Given that it was on the early side of the dinner hour the small seating area was practically empty. While Rachel approached the counter Finn grabbed a table in the small seating area in front.

"Since this is your spot I defer to you on the order," he said as he sat down, brandishing his credit card and holding it out to her.

Another girl would have taken the plastic without a second thought, but Rachel waved him off. "Ohh no, I'm only picking the food on the condition that you let me pay."

"That wouldn't be very chivalrous of me," he pointed out with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Ah, yes, my knight in shining overcoat," Rachel laughed, taking a few steps to close the distance between them. "But really, I insist. You've treated me to 2 lovely dinners and bowling, it's the least I can do," she added softly, reaching out to stroke his cheek as if to emphasize her point.

Her small hand felt warm against his face, which was still cold from having been outside. And the sincere look in her eyes made him forget the outside world once again. "Okay." He was powerless to say anything else.

She smiled brightly and leaned down to kiss him, the quick pressure of her lips and swirl of her tongue warming his insides before she pulled away and returned the to counter to order the food.

After placing the order she returned to the table and described to him the items that she ordered. The food was ready shortly and he helped her bring it all to the small table.

"So are a lot of Broadway actors vegan or vegetarian?" he asked as they dug into the array of Asian dishes. During a previous meal Rachel had explained that it's difficult to be completely vegan when eating out so she often settles for simply vegetarian cuisine.

She daintily swallowed a bite of soba noodles. "Definitely a higher proportion than in the rest of society," she answered with a small nod. "The ironic thing is that many of those same people smoke cigarettes or indulge in copious drinking, which both negates the health benefit of vegetarianism _**and **_can be damaging to the voice. But I suppose being a wino doesn't hurt the animal population, so it doesn't defeat their entire purpose of the dietary restrictions."

Finn chuckled at her analysis. She had the cutest way of thinking out loud.

"What about your clients and other people who come to the spa? I'm sure a lot of them avoid animal products."

"Not as many as you'd think. A lot of people are obsessed with organic food and using 'natural' stuff but aren't necessarily vegetarian." He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "The weirder ones are into cleanse diets and strange vitamins and stuff. Although I shouldn't judge and say they're 'weird', they're just..."

"Eccentric," Rachel supplied, nodding like she understood.

"Yes, exactly." Their eyes locked and she smiled widely. He felt a similar grin spreading across his own face. It was like he couldn't be near her without feeling completely happy.

"That was great, thanks Rach," he said as they disposed of their trash and prepared to venture out once again.

They bundled up and prepared to step back out onto the street. The sky was pitch-dark (well, as dark as it gets in a city of constant artificial light) even though it was only around 7:30 PM.

"There's a nice bakery around the corner. Would you like to pick something up and bring it back to my place?" As soon as the question left his lips he was concerned that it was too forward and Rachel was going to think he was only trying to get her into bed. He tried not to look too nervous.

Luckily, Rachel smiled at him, her beautiful face illuminated by the nearby streetlight. "That sounds great."

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They strolled arm-in-arm to the bakery and each selected a dessert. Rachel picked out a vegan carrot cupcake that looked too scrumptious to ignore. Meanwhile, Finn's eyes lit up like a little boy's at the sight of a giant M&M cookie.

"I try to avoid eating too much crap, but this sorta thing is my favorite," he explained, still grinning as he paid for their purchases.

She felt a certain excited curiosity bubbling within her as they made the short walk to his apartment. Seeing where Finn lived would yield additional insight into his personality and lifestyle, and it opened up the possibility that she'd meet his brother.

"Kurt works at an interior design gallery and they have evening shows on Thursdays, so he won't be home 'til later," he said casually as he unlocked the door to the third-floor walk-up. "And, here we are, home sweet home."

The living and dining areas were nicely furnished, achieving as modern an appearance as possible in the older building. There was a small galley kitchen and bathroom visible along a hallway that presumably also led to the two bedrooms.

Finn hung up their coats and encouraged her to make herself comfortable on the couch. While she did so he poured them drinks and set their desserts out on the coffee table.

Somehow eating their respective treats quickly gave way to feeding one another small bites instead.

"You have to try just a little piece of this, it's SO good," Finn declared with delight, breaking off a small bit of cookie and offering it to her.

Rachel accepted the morsel and tried to eat it as daintily as possible. "Mmm, that is good," she agreed, encouraging an even wider grin from her host. "You need to have some cupcake now, though," she added, severing a chunk for that purpose.

Finn's eyes narrowed when she presented his waiting mouth with a piece of cupcake, and she shivered as he playfully nipped her fingers and licked away every stray crumb and bit of frosting. This left a little of the fluffy white substance just above his upper lip.

Rachel giggled and motioned toward his face. "You've got a little frosting..."

Without really thinking about it she leaned forward and pressed her lips to the spot, gently licking the sweet residue away. Meanwhile Finn's hands cupped her cheeks and his tongue emerged to coax hers into a hot, frosting-laden kiss.

"Mmm..." she cooed in response the sudden escalation from playful to intense. Instinctively her hands found their way to the back of his neck and threaded into his hair. Finn then scooped her up by the hips and dragged her onto his lap, his tongue still eagerly exploring her mouth and leaving her breathless.

In a way she felt like the entire date had been leading up to this moment, continuing what they had started outside her building on Sunday. Sure there had been the little kisses in the bowling alley and restaurant but those were nothing compared to this blissfully intimate activity.

Finn's hands seemed to be everywhere at once, moving from her butt to her back to her waist. His touches were delicate; gentle and light and contentedly cascading over her clothes. Their kisses also continued in a sweet but deliberate fashion, the passion so overwhelming her eyes fell closed as their tongues slid against one another in a borderline frenzy. Just when she thought the moment couldn't get more intense, Finn's mouth left hers to trail along her jaw and down her neck. Her eyes shot open from the ambush as she moaned rather shamelessly.

Almost simultaneously, Rachel saw the door to the apartment flew open to reveal a well-dressed young man with perfectly coiffed medium-brown hair.

"I knew one day I'd regret paying so much for a couch."

Rachel hastily slid off of Finn's lap and smoothed her hair as best she could, trying to will the redness away from her cheeks. Still, Kurt's comment upon interrupting them wasn't quite as rude as Santana's, which she took as a good sign.

He also had a point, considering they'd basically been grinding on his (designer) sofa.

"Heyy, Kurt, uh, didn't expect you 'til a little later." Finn fidgeted, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and staring at the floor the same way he had prior to Rachel's first massage. When Rachel finished collecting herself he slid his arm around her shoulder and nodded towards Kurt. "Rachel, this is my brother Kurt. Kurt, meet Rachel."

Finn was clearly trying very hard to sound casual and not succeeding. She tried to put him at ease with a gentle stroke to his knee, maintaining eye contact with his brother.

"It's so nice to meet you, Kurt." She offered a genuine smile, attempting to mimic Finn's defiant politeness in response to her roommate's abrasive greeting the other night. "Finn's told me so much about you."

Kurt's stance softened and, albeit reluctantly, he took a seat on a nearby armchair. "Likewise."

After an inquiry from Finn, Kurt recounted his crazy evening of work, and then asked Rachel about her current role in West Side Story and her recent auditions. After that she coaxed a few high school stories out of the stepbrothers, including one that involved Kurt joining the football team and devising a surprise play that was actually a choreographed dance routine performed to Beyonce's "Single Ladies."

Upon hearing this she practically dissolved into a fit of giggles, burying her face in Finn's shoulder. He merely deadpanned and insisted that he found it easier to dance in football gear than regular clothes.

Eventually Rachel started yawning, and Finn offered to walk her to the corner of First Avenue so she could catch a cab uptown. As they strolled Finn's hand traced circles on hers and she stole glances up at his brightly smiling face.

Rachel knew that she was also grinning from ear to ear. It had been a big night given the new threshold of intimacy she and Finn had achieved, and the fact that Kurt seemed to like her. Things certainly were progressing, and deep down she was very excited for whatever lay ahead. She suspected that something Finn mentioned earlier would factor into those plans.

When they reached the corner he immediately turned to her and cleared his throat.

"I meant what I said before," he began. "About coming to see your show." His eyes radiated their usual effortless kindness and optimism and his mouth fell into an adorable lopsided grin.

She certainly wasn't going to say no; not after he'd been so sweet and gentlemanly and expressed a genuine interest in seeing her perform. Now that she knew what it felt like to be tenderly wrapped up in his arms and completely consumed by his kisses she wondered if she could deny him anything.

Besides, she met Finn at his workplace, so it was only right that he got to see hers.

"Saturday night?" she proposed.

"I'll expect a ticket waiting for me at the box office," he chided, squeezing her shoulder affectionately and leaning down to press his lips to hers. "We'll go for a drink or something afterwards."

Rachel reached up to lace her fingers into his hair, using this leverage to pull his mouth back against hers and deepen the kiss.

It seemed like an appropriate way to convey her appreciation and excitement for their future plans.

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AN2: I promise that next chapter they won't keep getting interrupted. ;-)


	4. Chapter 4

AN: We have arrived at an M-rated chapter.

See prior chapters for disclaimers.

I thank you for your time.

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Finn buzzed through his entire slew of clients on Saturday, willing time to move as quickly as possible. He hadn't planned on inviting himself to see Rachel's show, especially since it was in its final weeks and she was nervous about her future prospects. But that nervousness led her to bring it up, and it all sort of just went from there.

Now he was the one nervous about how things would go.

Satisfied that his radio silence had gone on long enough, Finn even told his coworkers about his dates with Rachel. Laura and Sam oo-ed and ah-ed with stars in their eyes as he described dinners and walks and bowling and dessert.

After a workout (which did nothing to burn off his excess energy) and shower he changed into the outfit that Kurt picked out for the occasion. If left to his own devices Finn would have put on khakis and a button-up shirt, but his brother insisted on a beige suit he kept around even though he hardly ever wore it.

"If you skip a tie and leave the top buttons of the shirt open it's still casual, but you look much more sophisticated," he'd explained. "Having only met Rachel once I haven't been fully able to assess her style, but it seems to be simple yet put-together. She'll **love **the suit. Trust me."

Rachel had never seen him dressed up before so she was bound to be impressed either way, but he erred on the side of listening to his brother.

He glanced at his reflection in the mirror one last time, shrugging to himself before throwing his coat on.

"Whoa, lady-killer on the loose!" Laura exclaimed as he glided through the reception area.

So maybe Kurt is right, he thought with a smirk.

Finn made his way to the theater, picking up his ticket at the will-call window before entering the dimly-lit, ornately decorated lobby. He'd been to a Broadway show here or there, mainly because his last girlfriend insisted that they experience some "culture."

And he was there because of a girl again, but for different reasons this time.

An energy that reminded him of Rachel permeated the activities in the lobby - patrons purchasing snacks and drinks, vendors hawking merchandise, ushers giving out programs and directing people into the auditorium. He was already excited about seeing the show, and being surrounded by the hustle and bustle only heightened his sense of anticipation.

Once he entered and found his seat he noticed that the atmosphere inside was more of a dull buzz, still bustling but a bit more serious and focused. This also seemed fitting, since listening to Rachel talk about her work conveyed that as much as she enjoyed it she was totally dedicated and serious when showtime arrived.

He imagined her backstage, quietly gathering her thoughts and preparing for the show.

He couldn't wait to see the result.

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Rachel went through her usual pre-curtain backstage routine, getting into costume and having her hair done and makeup applied before taking a few moments of quiet in the dressing room that she shared with Sarah, who played Rosalia.

"Nervous?" her castmate asked when she returned from hair and makeup. Sarah was the only person involved with the show who knew about Finn.

Rachel smiled. "About the performance tonight? No. About what Finn will think after he sees it and how that may affect our relationship?" She paused, her smile shifting from content to embarrassed. "Maybe a little."

"Please," Sarah scoffed. "If things are going as well as you say they are, he needs to see you in your element eventually, and why not get it out of the way early?"

"Well that's just it, I guess. I'm afraid that there's no turning back after this because I'm letting him into this part of my life. Hell, this **is **my life, and I hope that he meshes with it." In the little bit she'd dated around she'd never felt enough of a connection with a guy to get to the fourth date, let alone invite him to her performance first.

"It's a little heavy, I'll give you that," Sarah agreed. "But he seems very sweet and if it's meant to be I'm sure he'll love seeing you as the sassy _chica caliente_."

Rachel laughed outright at her castmate's comment. "I hope you're right."

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She was amazing.

He knew that already, really, but given his lack of exposure to theater he didn't know how Rachel's general awesomeness would translate to the performance. Her voice had captivated him as she displayed such heartfelt and passionate emotions.

There'd always been a spark between them, but he felt even closer to her now that he'd seen her on stage, pouring all her energy into the thing she lived for above all else.

This newfound closeness was palpable in their interactions. After the show he glided to the stage door as instructed, unable to contain his grin as he presented her with a small congratulatory bouquet and kissed her softly. She graciously accepted the gift and beamed while introducing him to a few of her castmates whose names he didn't have a prayer of remembering since he was so mesmerized by her.

A small group of them set off for a nearby bar, a favorite of the cast's, to get a few drinks and a quick bite. Once they were situated at a table in the back Finn was better able to focus on conversing with the others, despite the small brunette gingerly leaning against him with her fingers laced into his.

Rachel's castmates and their significant others were pleasant and friendly if not a little edgy, asking Finn what he did and how he met Rachel. They offered suggestive, albeit good-natured, comments when he explained it, Rachel attempting to hide her slight blush and embarrassed giggles by turning her face into his shoulder. Luckily the loudest member of the posse (a rather flamboyant man named Mark, who'd nonetheless played an entirely convincing Action) steered the conversation away from their relationship and towards everyone's universal disdain for the show's director and their plans for after the show closed. Amidst the conversation Finn wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulder, enjoying the comfort of closeness with her in the public setting.

Eventually it grew late enough that a majority of the group wanted to call it a night. Once everyone finished their drinks and late-night snacks they paid the bill and stood to gather their coats before starting for the exit.

Finn and Rachel followed behind the rest of the group, hands intertwined again. Just before they reached the door he felt her tug his arm. When he leaned down she craned upward to whisper in his ear.

"Come home with me."

Turning toward her Finn took in her expression, his eyes searched her face for assurance. In contrast to her bleary-eyed colleagues she seemed wide awake, her eyes alive with a contented passion. As he gazed at her she bit her lip, the gesture at once shy and deviously inviting.

He responded by cupping her face in his hands and capturing her lips with his mouth, expressing his own passion the best way he knew how. She deepened the kiss instantly and pulled him closer by the lapels of his coat, his fingers threading into her hair as the world around them completely disappeared.

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When the cab pulled up in front of her building Rachel practically floated out of it and up the front steps.

It was a chilly winter night but she didn't feel cold at all, her insides searing with anticipation. She felt Finn's large body pressing against her back as she unlocked the outer and inner doors of the vestibule. Once they were inside the hallway he tugged her backward and initiated another kiss, forceful enough to make her knees buckle but still gentle and tender and **Finn**. Rachel had feared that she'd been too forward in suggesting they go back to her place and that she'd have to set the pace, but as he lavished her mouth and started to unzip her puffy winter coat she happily released that concern.

At some point she reluctantly broke away from the kiss to lead him up the stairs to her apartment. Because it was early in Santana's semester the place was actually clean, instead of littered with gigantic law books and outlines. More importantly, Santana herself was out for the night.

As soon as the door closed behind them the couple resumed kissing furiously. Rachel had never felt such intense passion stirring within her. Nor did she think it would be brought on by the simple circumstance of Finn attending one of her performances.

As usual he was a perfect gentleman, bringing her flowers and complimenting her and politely tolerating her insane castmates.

She especially loved his "dressed-down" suit ensemble, but it was all she could do to restrain herself from ripping the dress shirt off of his body, their coats and his suit jacket discarded on the living room couch. As they made their way through the room she carefully unfastened each button, trying her best to keep up with his kisses at the same time. Once the button-down hit the floor she gathered the material of his undershirt and pushed it up to reveal his muscular abdomen and chest. Because of his height he had to lean down to help her whisk it over his head, after which she took a few seconds to drink in the sight. The streetlight outside their window illuminated the pale skin of his upper body while his face remained mostly in shadow. Nonetheless, his dark eyes smoldered down at her while they continued toward her bedroom.

As they crossed the threshold Finn snaked his large hands up her sweater dress, stroking her stomach, sides, and lower back. Obviously he'd touched her before so his hands felt familiar, but this time he didn't need to restrict himself to one area at a time or avoid the certain special parts of her that she now wanted him to touch the most.

After teasing her sufficiently he lifted the hem of her sweater-dress, encouraging her to raise her arms so he could swing the garment over her head.

After another step her bottom hit the edge of the bed and she allowed him to lower her onto the comforter, his lips and tongue now ghosting down her neck and across her collarbone. His eyes stayed locked with hers as he ventured lower, lightly kissing the valley between her bra-clad breasts while gently caressing one of them through the satiny cup.

He was being so cautious and doting and she needed to tell him that she wanted him, that she was sure about it and that if they took things any slower she was going to _**explode**_.

"Finn..." Saying his name was all she could manage, but it came out in a sultry and wanton tone that she didn't even know she could make, her body involuntarily arching upward into his touch.

He groaned in response and quickly unhooked her bra, discarding the offending item and grasping a breast in earnest while his hot mouth descended on the other. Rachel shamelessly gripped his broad shoulders, shivering under his ministrations.

Then she sank her hands into his hair and pulled his face to hers to resume kissing his soft lips, firmly swirling her tongue between them in an effort to convey her sense of urgency. Finn responded by skimming his hands down her stomach and slipping them into the elastic waist of her tights, simultaneously curtailing the kiss and dragging his lips along her jaw and ear. She raised her hips so he could peel the stretchy fabric down, his large hands grazing her smooth legs. Once he removed the tights completely, leaving her in only a barely-there pair of panties, he paused and raked his eyes over her entire body while his breath seemed to catch in his throat.

When his eyes met her own she blushed and immediately looked off to the side, biting her lip like she always did when she was nervous.

Finn put a finger under her chin and tipped her face back toward his, swooping down to kiss her sweetly. "You're so beautiful," he said softy as he settled on the bed next to her, streetlight still bathing his taut upper body in the otherwise-dark room.

Rachel couldn't even speak, overcome by his unabashed appreciation for her and the significance of this step in their relationship. She pulled him back for another urgent kiss and reached for his waist, freeing first the clasp of his belt and then the button of his pants before shucking them away to reveal tented black boxer-briefs.

His long arms wrapped securely around her as they continued lavishing each other's mouths, her pebbled nipples pressing against his hard chest. For want of a reason not to she pushed him onto his back so that she was splayed on top of him, grinding her lace-covered center onto his hard crotch.

In some sense she didn't even know who this girl was, with the fire between her legs fueling such assertiveness. But at the same time it felt right, like Finn's sweetness and adoration was allowing her this outlet.

"God... Rach..." he gasped between kisses, one hand tangled in her hair while the other slipped into the waist of her underwear and squeezed her bare bottom.

"Ohh..." she breathed, pushing his hand and helping him remove her last remaining article. After it fell away she laid back and watched him strip out of his own underwear, soaking in the image of his gloriously naked form.

"So," he began huskily, settling his body over hers, "you get embarrassed when I look at you but you're allowed to stare at me?"

She smiled, appreciative of the banter amidst their intense activities. "Well I've never seen you even _**close **_to naked. You've basically seen me before."

"Not all of you." He kissed her again, ensuring that the conversation was abandoned in favor of the physical agenda. Rachel silently reached into her nightstand drawer and produced a condom, tearing open the foil and helping Finn roll it on. He took a few minutes to work her up again, fingers teasing her swollen nub and slick entrance before pushing himself inside with a heady groan.

While they moved against each other, hands grasping and mouths caressing whatever skin they could reach, Rachel reveled in the feeling of wholeness and intimacy. That night Finn really _had _seen all of her; not just her nude body, but the person she is and where she's been and where she hoped to be. She'd been embarrassed by the intensity of her sexual urges but they were driven by the connection that she and Finn clearly shared.

Of course the sex itself wasn't bad, either.

"Ohhh, Finnnn..." Her orgasm consumed her like a tidal wave and she fought to keep her eyes open, concentrating on his face while he too approached the brink.

He pumped into her another few times before gasping his release and burying his face in the crook of her neck until he caught his breath.

That night as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep Rachel didn't think about her past or her future, but only the presence of the wonderful man next to her.

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	5. Chapter 5

AN: No, the site has not alerted you in error (although it seems it isn't alerting anyone at all right now :-/ ). This is a real, actual, genuine update. It's a shame it took me so long considering this chapter picks up more-or-less right after the last one leaves off, but unfortunately less entertaining aspects of real life got in the way of writing. For those of you who are still willing to keep up with this story, I thank you a million times over.

This chapter is rated M, and I still don't own anything. Billions of thanks to **profitina** for betaing.

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The next morning Rachel stirred amidst the sunlight peeking through the space between her curtains, smiling when she became aware of the strong arms wrapped around her and the broad chest pressed against her back.

She'd certainly woken up with a man in her bed before. Despite her general distrust of them after what happened with Jesse, Rachel had certain... _**needs **_that she couldn't exactly ignore. And as an attractive girl she had no shortage of gentleman callers.

But these encounters were always detached and isolated incidents, making for vastly different circumstances than the one she found herself in now. Instead of wanting to escape to the shower to give the guy a chance to leave on his own, she wanted to stay cuddled up in Finn's embrace forever. And this time there was no dreading the awkward conversation in which the guy would say that he wanted to see her again and she responded by telling him it wouldn't work for some random reason. The connection they'd forged in such a short time and the depths of what she felt for him left no room for fear of anything.

Finn must have felt her stirring because she felt his stubbly cheek move against her neck in a muted yawn before planting a kiss there.

"What are you thinking about?" he whispered, snuggling into her back and caressing her stomach under the thin tank top.

Well she couldn't tell him all of that, obviously.

"Just that I wish I didn't have a show in... 4 hours," she sighed after glancing over at her nightstand clock.

"Well, I have a few ideas of how to make the most of that time." Finn kissed her neck again, this time darting his tongue out every few seconds to tickle her warm skin. His repeated actions made her shiver and whimper with delight until she managed to turn and face him to help curtail the assault.

The whole scene was like something out of a movie, the sort of flighty romantic comedy which Rachel had long given up on mimicking in her actual life.

Gradually Finn's kisses to her neck slowed and their eyes met, his arms tightening around her as his expression grew more serious.

"I hope you can tell how much I care about you," he said softly, gazing evenly into her eyes. "Seeing you on stage last night made it all feel so much more intense."

She blushed, involuntarily looking to the side as a giddy smile engulfed her face. "I care about you too," she returned once she was able to look at him again.

Her agreement caused his lopsided grin to blossom as well, dimples appearing in his stubbly cheeks and brown eyes shining brightly.

"So… are we..?" She really had no idea how the next part was supposed to go.

Finn indulged in a hearty laugh in response to her nervousness, kissing her soundly before clearing his throat and cradling her face in his hands.

"Rachel Berry," he began seriously, "will you be my girlfriend?"

Silly as she felt at the hint of mockery in his seriousness, she knew he was just appeasing her and trying to be gentlemanly.

"Of course I will, Finn."

They kissed again, before Finn moved along to demonstrating some of his _**useful **_ideas.

The next two weeks flew by in a blur of activity. West Side Story closed, with final critical acclaim for the entire cast. Finn attended the closing party, staying by her side all night but holding his own as far as mingling with others accordingly. In subsequent days she received various emails and texts from cast-mates and others involved in the production, seeking updates on her professional prospects as well as commenting about her "charming" and "gorgeous" new boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Rachel had been offered six auditions, two of which her agent, Gertrude, insisted she turn down because they were "beneath a talent of her caliber." She knew that playing Anita had been a huge stepping stone and that she was on the cusp of recognition as an elite Broadway actress, if she could just get that elusive lead role. But what if she got an offer for an exciting supporting role and turned it down to wait for the lead role? Gertrude insisted that she was in the driver's seat regarding her next move and they needed to just be patient.

As much as she loathed admitting it, Rachel was still plagued with the same self-doubt that had haunted her ever since high school. Obviously it wasn't so bad that she'd quit the business, but it was enough to make her question whether her next move – whatever it turned out to be – would be the right one.

The good thing about being an actress was that she could put on her optimistic face for the world, and really only let her guard down around a select few people – her dads, Santana, a college professor who she considered her mentor. Her growing closeness with Finn threw a wrench in this system because it was only a matter of time before she revealed this side to him as well… not to mention the reason for it.

Ultimately, though, he was the reason she felt more optimistic than not.

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After being buzzed into the building, Finn climbed the stairs to his girlfriend's apartment.

His _girlfriend's_ apartment, he thought again with a smile.

He admitted to being kind of a sap who could fall hard - not to mention quickly - for a girl, but no one else had ever made him feel as alive as Rachel.

She was waiting for him at the door when he reached the second floor, wearing a pink apron over a dress and holding a wooden spoon.

"You are _just_ in time," she declared as he leaned down to greet her with a kiss. "Did you bring the wine like I asked?"

"Yep." He set his shopping bag on the counter. "And…" he reached in to reveal another smaller paper bag, "I got you one of those vegan cupcakes from the bakery near my place."

He loved the way her eyes lit up in response to the surprise. "Thank you. That's very sweet."

"Well yeah," he offered dryly. "It's a cupcake."

Rachel rolled her eyes at the joke and finished portioning out the pasta she'd made for dinner.

While they ate Finn noticed that she seemed a little quieter than usual. He knew she was nervous about finding her next job, but this was the first time over the last few weeks that he'd seen her quite so withdrawn.

He waited to broach the subject until they'd finished dinner and brought their wine glasses and cupcakes over to the couch.

"Am I allowed to ask what's going on with your auditions? I don't want to violate the Broadway boyfriend protocol or anything."

Rachel laughed and swallowed a sip of wine. "You can always ask," she began, sighing and leaning back onto the cushions. "If I get any callbacks from the four recent auditions I'll be hearing about them soon. And still no callbacks from the other prior auditions." She was looking straight ahead, off into some imaginary distance past the back wall of the kitchen. "I know that I'm in a position to get worthwhile offers but getting to that point seems like an impossible task. And _**then **_what if I get more than one but don't know which to choose?"

Finn studied her face intently as she spoke. He had now gotten to see her in both work mode and looking-for-work mode, and his admiration for her ambition had grown along with the rest of his feelings for her.

"Trust me, everyone feels that way sometimes," he assured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to him. "You'll keep auditioning and cross the which-role-to-choose bridge when you get there. And no matter what you choose it'll be the right move because it's _you_."

"You're right," Rachel sighed again, leaning against him. "I'd just forgotten how tense this predicament makes me. It's like I'm on pins and needles all the time, waiting for the phone to ring."

He kissed the top of her head softly. "I don't envy you there, believe me. But you'll get through it." The he realized that he'd started rubbing her shoulder gently. "You know, I think I might be able to help you relax..."

"And how is that?" she turned toward him and raised an eyebrow, obviously knowing exactly what he meant.

Without his usual materials he needed to improvise, but Rachel had a few different lotions in the bathroom and he picked one that would work well enough. When he entered her bedroom she was already face-down on the bed, naked accept for her pink panties.

"Someone's eager to get started," he teased.

Rachel sat up and turned to him, blushing. "I've definitely missed your massages. I just felt a little embarrassed asking for one since we started seeing each other."

Finn leaned down to silence her with a kiss. "It's okay. You can always ask." He winked after repeating her words from earlier.

He began with her shoulders, as he had during her visits to the spa. Finn usually got a sense of where a client carried his or her tension after only a few sessions, so even though it'd been two months since her last massage he knew what Rachel needed.

Being her boyfriend certainly didn't hurt there either, he thought to himself with a smile as he worked his lotion-covered palms along her silky-smooth back. He felt her muscles relaxing under his hands, and she rewarded his work with gentle sighs and moans.

Just the sounds of her noises made his blood rush south, and he willed himself to calm down and focus on helping her relax. He massaged women every day and never felt this way. But, at least since he'd asked her out, none of those women were _**Rachel**_.

His situation worsened when he had her turn over and was confronted by the sight of her perky chest. If she were still a client that part of her anatomy would be covered in a sheet instead of distracting him like this. For her part Rachel seemed peaceful and comfortable, eyes closed, blissfully unaware of his deteriorating willpower. He slid his hands along her arms and collarbone, then moved on to her side, just barely grazing her left breast and eliciting another soft purr.

He massaged her upper chest and ribcage and approached her round peaks without touching them in earnest... even when he noticed her nipples hardening and her breathing increasing.

Eventually Rachel licked her lips and raised her droopy eyelids, brown eyes peering up at him in a sexy squint.

"You know, it's not very nice to get a lady all worked up when you're still wearing all your clothes," she said with a smirk, reaching up to toy with the hem of his t-shirt.

Finn smiled. "You don't want me to finish the massage? I haven't even gotten to your legs."

Without saying anything Rachel sat up and yanked his t-shirt over his head in one motion before deftly popping open the button of his jeans and lowering the zipper accordingly.

Finn didn't really need a verbal confirmation on account of being forcibly undressed.

After their effort to disrobe him they'd wound up laying askew on the bed, more or less perpendicular to the headboard. Rachel scooted back until her head was hanging off the side of the bed.

While she reached into her nightstand drawer for a condom, Finn slid his lotion-slicked hands over her chest, drawing a louder moan from her body that mixed with his own.

Rachel quickly sheathed him and settled back, raising her arms above her head so that they too were dangling over the edge of the mattress.

The image of her totally open and free and waiting for him was almost too much for him to take and he entered her without delay. Her knees were bent, smooth legs cradling his waist and dainty feet haphazardly grazing the backs of his thighs as he thrust.

He kept his strokes purposeful and steady, but not too fast, savoring the feeling of her heat surrounding him. Rachel looked entirely mellow with ecstasy, eyes closed and mouth hanging open as her breathing grew more rapid. After a few more strokes she tensed underneath him, hands flying up and gripping his back for dear life. He kept moving as her walls clenched around him, holding off his release until she completely stopped quaking and her breathing had become steady and calm.

After finishing Finn rolled them over so he was on his back, head properly aligned with the pillows, and Rachel lay pliant against his chest.

A moment later he smirked. "Told you I could get you to relax."

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Two days later, Rachel finally got a callback.

She knew that the first people to hear the news should have been her dads, or Santana, or her favorite college professor who'd served as her mentor. But Rachel didn't hesitate to scroll to the "F"'s in her phone contacts.

"I actually don't know much about the plot or anything," she admitted over Thai takeout dinner at her apartment later. "I went on the initial audition weeks ago and I assumed they'd cast the role already."

"Wait, is this the weird thing about the Portuguese hooker?" Santana asked as she wrapped some pad thai noodles around her chopsticks.

"No... _**God**_no." Rachel shuddered at the thought, picking at her pineapple fried rice. "From what Gertrude tells me it's a modern adaptation of a historical play. Something about 19th-century Germany set to an alternative rock score."

Finn swallowed a drink of water and looked at her quizzically. "They haven't given you a script yet?"

"No, but that's normal," Rachel explained with a sigh. "Sometimes they don't give you a song or piece of the script until the third round or so... if I even make it that far."

"Hey, Diva!" Santana snapped suddenly. "What do we say in these situations?"

Rachel sighed. " 'Optimism and sunshine will make what I seek mine.' "

Finn attempted to disguise his snicker by clearing his throat, and wasn't terribly successful.

"You got something to say, Strong-Hands McGee?" Santana barked at him.

"What? Uh, no." He attempted to laugh it off but couldn't escape Santana's increasingly heated glare. "I just think it's... interesting that 'sunshine' is part of your motto."

"Please," the Latina said with a generous eye-roll, "I wouldn't be graduating from NYU Law School with multiple job offers if I wasn't nice when I needed to be and tough the rest of the time."

She stood, gathering her trash and otherwise clearing her place. "You treat Diva properly and stick around and maybe one day I'll be nice to you too." With that she grabbed a large textbook titled "Mergers & Acquisitions" and retired to her room, closing the door behind her.

"Whew..." Finn exhaled once the bedroom door clicked shut, shaking his head a little at the biting comment.

Rachel got up from her chair and sat down on Finn's lap, stroking his hair in an effort to placate him.

"I know it's not conventional and somewhat abrasive, but Santana's encouragement has really helped me persevere when certain... individuals... have been particularly critical of my chosen career path."

She stood and began clearing the rest of their dinner containers, not really wanting to go into more details at the moment.

"Now, onto more important matters," she began when Finn started helping her clean up, "the fact that you haven't seen Funny Girl is simply abhorrent and completely unacceptable. I say we do something about that immediately, hm?"

Finn playfully rolled his eyes, but took a seat on the couch just the same.

At some point during the movie Rachel's 7 AM yoga class caught up with her and she felt herself dozing off, lulled into peaceful half-sleep by Finn's gentle stroking of her hair. When she came to she was alone on the couch and heard voices in the kitchen.

"... and you really seem to care about her too, so I don't have a problem with you. It's just my shtick, I guess, to be staunchly protective of Berry when it comes to these things. Nothing personal."

"Good to know." Even though she couldn't see him Rachel heard the sly smile in Finn's voice. "She's lucky to have a friend like you," he added sincerely, the thoughtful addendum bringing a smile to her own face.

Santana didn't say anything else in response and the telltale sound of her footsteps grew louder, reminding Rachel to resume her sleeping pose... even though her uncontainable grin likely gave her away.

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"Mmph, Rachel..." Finn fell back onto the pillows at the head of his king-sized bed.

The object of his passion merely snuggled beside him, giggling as she rested her cheek on his bare chest.

The couple lay silently while they caught their breath, morning sunlight peaking in through the blinds and casting its glow across the hardwood floor. Almost subconsciously he stroked the silky strands of her dark hair, trying to memorize the feeling of her small body pressed against his side.

They both dozed off for a few minutes until the loud ringing of Rachel's cell phone interrupted their peaceful moment, the sudden blaring of Don't Rain on My Parade causing Finn to groan.

Rachel, meanwhile, sprung awake as if shot out of a cannon and grabbed her phone from the bedside table.

"Hello? Gertrude?" she asked excitedly after answering it, fidgeting as she sat up against her pillow.

Finn moved to sit next to her and offered her a hand, their fingers intertwining automatically.

After a few seconds of talking on the other end of the line, Rachel practically squealed with delight.

"Ohh Gertrude thank you! I'm so excited!"

Finn was wide-eyed and eager when she hung up. "Which part?" he asked simply.

"The German rock musical... which apparently is called Spring Awakening. They want to do a read-through with me and the male lead before it's totally finalized," she explained demurely before pausing, "but Gertrude says that it's just a formality and I have the part!" With the latter declaration she bounced in her spot on the bed and threw her arms around Finn's neck.

"Rach! That's so awesome," he laughed, squeezing her close to him.

Rachel pulled away slightly, unable to contain her excitement. "I don't know if I can explain to you how this _**feels**_, finally being recognized and getting the opportunity to originate an interesting lead role. It's a little risky since it's new but Gertrude has always said that those projects are the ones that pay off most..."

Amidst her joyful rant Rachel barely noticed the knock on the bedroom door and pulled the covers over her naked body just before it opened to reveal an irate Kurt clad in his beloved Burberry pajamas.

"I always brace myself for being awoken by sounds of your carnal endeavors, so I'm glad I slept through **that** this time. Nonetheless, **what **are you being so loud about!"

"Kurt I got the part! The German historical musical!" She bounced in place, careful to keep the bedsheet up around her chest.

Upon hearing the news Kurt squealed as well, bouncing a bit himself before sitting on the edge of the bed next to Rachel as they fervently discussed the additional details.

Finn used the opportunity to discretely slip on his underwear beneath the minimal privacy afforded by the bedspread... not that it mattered, since his brother and girlfriend were entirely involved in their conversation about her news.

Just then Kurt gasped, interrupting their exchange.

"I don't have to be at the gallery until noon today! We _must_ celebrate with brunch!" He declared before rising from the bed and heading toward the door. "I can be ready in 45 minutes... which should hopefully be enough time for you heathens to ravish each other once more before _**maybe**_managing a shower and some clothes, hmm?"

With that he scampered down the hall, avoiding the pillow Finn threw in the general direction of his head.

Two nights later, the evening before the read-through, Rachel and Finn sat on her living room couch looking through the script.

"This one part is, uh, intimate," he said after perusing a scene at the end of Act I in which Rachel's character Wendla loses her virginity to someone named Melchior.

He couldn't stop re-reading the directional cues indicating that Melchior tears Wendla's dress open and strips out of his pants and, yeah, they basically go through the whole sex thing on stage, minus the actual… act.

Rachel didn't even look up from her copy of the script. "In the original play that was a rape scene. It's been softened for the stage," she commented nonchalantly.

"Well, good thing, then." Sarcasm dripped from his retort.

Rachel snickered without missing a beat, but when she spoke it was soft and withdrawn. "Said the guy who touches naked women for a living."

His eyes shot up and he saw the crestfallen look on her face. It made him feel terrible and he didn't even know what to say (although clarifying that he touches women _**and men **_would've been a start) before she continued.

"Aren't we here because I patronized the spa? Who's to say your _**intimacy **_with your clients isn't more worrisome than what I do onstage?"

"Really? We're here right now because you're _**you**_, and getting to know you made me feel happier than I'd been in a long time. " Didn't they trust each other? He couldn't believe she even _**went **_there.

Oh.

Right. _**He'd **_brought it up because he didn't like the idea of her being topless on stage and pretending to have sex with another guy.

Finn exhaled, not wanting the discussion to get out of hand since Rachel was already nervous about the read-through. "Hey, I'm sorry. I know you trust me with my job, and I guess I'll have to learn to trust you with yours." He reached for her hand tentatively.

"Thank you," she said simply, intertwining their fingers. "I don't expect you to love the idea of that scene, but it's all just acting. The fact that we'll have to rehearse and perform it over and over and over will make it less intimate, not more. I promise."

"Well, I'll feel a little more comfortable once you find out who the male lead is and I can properly intimidate him."

"Fair enough," Rachel replied with a laugh.

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Rachel arrived at the theater for the read-through and was greeted by Joffrey, the executive producer who'd been in charge of the casting process. He introduced her to the director, Calvin Wright, who had a reputation of being somewhat eccentric and antisocial despite (or maybe because of) his great artistic vision.

"Your co-star telephoned ahead to say that he's caught in a bit of traffic but on his way."

Joffrey initiated small talk while Calvin kept his nose in the script, occasionally making notes with a pencil. Rachel tried her hardest not to be nervous, and she was thankful that the producer seemed keen on keeping her at ease.

"Ah, he's here," Joffrey said, his gaze stretching to stage left, behind Rachel.

"Yes, sorry I'm late. I'd forgotten how unreliable taxi transportation is in this city."

Rachel sat straight up from her perch on a stool. She'd recognize that voice anywhere and swirled around to face its owner.

"Jesse?"

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AN2: Oh snap. Yes, I went there, and the drama is about to begin.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN**: Many thanks to **Profitina** for betaing and encouraging me to actually get this done. I'll hopefully be updating more frequently now that I have a better idea of where this is going.

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Rachel tried to hide her complete and utter shock at the appearance of her ex-boyfriend in the small off-Broadway theater.

"You two know each other?" Joffrey asked, a pensive frown crossing his face.

"Ahh, yes, we go way back," Jesse replied, almost smirking. "Isn't that right, Rach?"

Luckily for her Calvin chose that moment to emerge from his fixation on the script, in which he'd had his nose buried since Rachel arrived. "I'd like to start with the dialogue on page 47."

During their read-through Rachel channeled her energy into the script and used the vulnerability she was feeling to convey her character's shyness and adolescent lack of assuredness. It wasn't that far off, really. The realization that she would be trying to make a name for herself while sharing the stage with her ex-flame certainly had her feeling like a lost teenager again.

Whatever she did worked splendidly. Both Joffrey and Calvin commented that Rachel conveyed just the right mix of naivete and curiosity. She tried not to blush as they congratulated themselves on finding the perfect Wendla.

The two men were less complimentary of Jesse, but assessed that he was merely "re-acclimating to the stage" and would ease into the Melchior role just fine. Then they left rather abruptly to attend a production meeting across town, and before Rachel even realized it, she found herself alone with Jesse.

The wavy-haired man meanwhile, was still deeply involved in his script. He appeared to be stuck on the Melchior-Wendla dialogue at the beginning of Act II, as he kept repeating his line with varying inflections, grumbling to himself each time that it wasn't quite right.

Rachel managed a chuckle at the scene before the feelings of anger and contempt returned. Nonetheless, she decided to be the bigger person and test the waters of casual conversation.

"So, what made you want to return to this 'boring old-fashioned amateur hour'?"

Jesse, almost startled, looked up from the pages in front of him. "Now now, that's no way to speak about our craft," he said with his trademark arrogance.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "That's what _**you**_ said when you informed me that you were transferring to UCLA. You went on to say that film and television offered 'a much brighter prognosis than musical theater' in light of your 'natural charisma and extreme talent.'"

"Ah." He looked down at the floor, showing a rare bit of vulnerability… which was all too readily replaced by cockiness. "My experience in Hollywood was that formulaic cinema and television aren't magnanimous enough to capture my dynamic character portrayals." With that he returned his attention to Melchior's lines.

She felt her blood starting to boil at the complete absence of humility in that assessment of his career thus far. Still, she didn't want to start off on the wrong foot. Irrespective of their romantic past, they were still just two professionals trying to advance their careers. Moreover, as Santana had reminded her whenever the topic came up, _**she **_was the one making a steady climb through the Broadway scene while Jesse had been toiling away in unsuccessful movies and television projects. Notwithstanding the fact that he'd managed to land this role and seemed confident as ever, Jesse was essentially starting over, whereas Rachel was the one with more applicable experience. She decided to use this twinge of self-assuredness to her utmost advantage.

"Well, I'm confident that we can work together to make this show successful. I'll see you at our first rehearsal."

Before Jesse could respond she turned on her heels and left the auditorium, feeling secure that at least for the time being she had the situation under control.

Rachel informed Santana of the development over dinner at their apartment that evening.

Unfortunately she inadvertently timed the announcement right after her roommate had taken a drink of Diet Coke. The law student nearly choked on her mouthful of the beverage.

"What?" she exclaimed in between a few wheezy coughs. "Your co-star is _**Jesse**_? The same Jesse who you started dating when you were fourteen and planned to follow to _**college**_, only to find out two weeks before you moved to New York that he was _**transferring**_ to a school in _**California**_? _**That **_Jesse?"

Luckily, Rachel had anticipated this sort of reaction from Santana and was prepared to talk her down from the proverbial ledge.

"Yes, that same Jesse. And I hate how you tell that story as though I wouldn't have come to New York regardless of my relationship with him, when – _**as you know **_– I'd wanted to go to NYU since I was a fetus."

Santana sank back into her chair. "Fair point. But that doesn't make what he did to you okay."

"You're right, and that's why getting over it took me a long time and the help of _**good friends**_." Rachel playfully glared at her roommate, who rolled her eyes slightly and looked to the side while she continued. "Furthermore, Jesse and I are now two adults in a professional situation. It's obviously not ideal that our history is so unfortunate, but there are worse circumstances to be working under. I've had a few hours to think about this and process everything, and in the grand scheme of things it really isn't that big a deal."

Santana smirked. "That's all well and good. But what are you going to tell Lurch?"

"I really wish you wouldn't call him that." Rachel managed a half-smile while she poked at her tofu quiche. She knew her boyfriend and roommate were getting along just fine so she accepted Santana's abrasive act, but that didn't mean that she enjoyed it.

"You know me, Berry; at this point it's a term of endearment, I swear." She took a bite of salad. "But seriously. You told me he said something about the sex scene. I can't imagine him being happy with you performing that scene with your ex, of all people. So what are you going to tell him?"

Rachel took a deep breath. "The truth. What else?"

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Finn sat across from Rachel at the "their table" in the noodle shop, stunned. They'd spoken by phone the previous day after her read-through, and all she said was that it went well. She'd conveniently left out the part about the male lead role going to her ex-boyfriend. It was one thing for him to accept her to acting out that sex scene with another guy; the fact that it was a guy who she'd – he presumed, anyway – actually _**done **_that with made it a whole different ballgame.

"Finn? Finn, sweetie, say something, please."

The hint of uneasiness in Rachel's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, sorry. This is just… surprising. And, you know… not good, from where I sit."

Rachel laughed sheepishly and looked off to the side. "I don't expect you to be happy about it, obviously. _**I'm **_not even happy about it, if that's at all telling. Believe me, the fact that he showed up there yesterday was the last thing I wanted or even remotely anticipated." She paused before focusing her gaze directly on his, her large brown orbs open and honest.

Finn exhaled, unsure of what to say.

"Can I ask... what happened between you and Jesse, anyway?"

Her face sank, and instantly he felt horrible for even asking.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't—"

"No," Rachel said firmly, "I want to." She flashed an embarrassed grin. "It's not easy for me to talk about, but it's only fair."

She then went into the whole story. Apparently Jesse was two years older than her and they met through their involvement in various musical theater extra-curricular activities. They grew close once they realized that they both dreamed of attending college in New York and performing on Broadway, and started dating towards the end of her freshman year.

"He was the first guy who ever paid any attention to me," she admitted shyly. "I basically fell head-over-heels for his over-the-top charm and bravado."

Portions of her description were so emotionally driven that other patrons in the restaurant were clearly eavesdropping.

"My sophomore year was like a dream. We starred together as Sandy and Danny in Grease, he got into NYU… We promised each other we'd be together forever…"

Finn winced during the part about Rachel giving Jesse her virginity on the eve of his departure for New York, praying for that part of the story to be over as quickly as possible. (Thankfully, she lowered her voice during that part.)

"As a junior I missed him when he was away at school, but I was able to distract myself by focusing on the future. I really went full-throttle – taking extra voice lessons and starring in community theater and high school musical productions _**and **_ maintaining a challenging academic course-load…"

When the story turned dark, Rachel didn't get girly-emotional so much as she just seemed _**angry**_.

"Little did I know, Jesse was having second-thoughts about the future. Some talent scout from Hollywood came to a workshop he was doing and – apparently – convinced him that he'd do better in movies and television, and that there was a 'superb' program for that at UCLA." She scoffed, anger overtaking her small body as the story became more intense.

Rachel didn't even stop talking when the guy behind the counter called out that their order was ready and Finn stood to retrieve the tray of food and bring it over to their table.

"The worst part is that I should have _**known **_something was up. During the spring of my senior year I made my usual mid-semester visit and he seemed totally detached and just _off_ . Then I graduated high school and spent that summer getting ready to start at NYU so of course I was in my own naïve little world. He always was a cocky, self-centered asshole, and evidently I just didn't realize it until _**after **_he told me that he was completely abandoning the plans _**we **_ had made and moving clear across the country. "

She exhaled and stared down at her bowl of soba noodles, seemingly exhausted. "I guess the overall theme is that I was stupid enough to believe that we had everything figured out and that I'd have it all – the successful Broadway career and the like-minded guy to share it with."

"Hey," Finn half-scolded her, his heart breaking at the sight of her crestfallen face. He lightly touched her chin so that she looked at him again, while his other hand grasped hers atop the small table. "First of all, I mean, I've been there. You're lucky that being in New York was your dream anyway, and at least part of the time along the way you had someone to share it with. I wandered through high school totally aimless and only picked a career because Quinn pressured me. _**Then **_I picked a job 500 miles away from home, mostly to spite her. I'm really just lucky that it worked out for me."

Comparing her situation to his seemed like a supportive move since it showed that he can relate, having also been lead astray and torn apart by an ex. But he didn't feel like going into _all _of those details about his relationship with Quinn. Not yet, anyway. So he brought it back to her.

"I have such admiration for you because you _**always **_had a certain path in mind, and haven't let anything or anyone stop you. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to start off in New York on your own when you thought you'd have someone there to support you. But it sounds like you _**did**_ have support, between Santana and your other friends and that Professor Schwartz you always talk about."

"Professor _Schultz_, Finn," she corrected him.

"Sorry." Damn, he always got that wrong. "What I mean is, you're on your way to making it, just like you wanted. And it sounds like Jesse's Hollywood thing was totally lame. So I'm sure he's scared shitless about this play, since he's still trying to be good at the whole acting thing. You totally have the upper hand."

"That's true," she conceded, her face softening into a half-smile. "I actually realized the same thing today after the read-through."

"And also…" Finn grinned, glad to see the life returning to her expression, "who says you still can't have it all? I may not be a fancy actor-guy, but I certainly believe in you." He kept his eyes on hers as he lifted her hand to his mouth and lightly brushing his lips along her knuckles.

Rachel blushed. For a second Finn was worried that he was being too forward or serious or whatever, but then her usual bright smile appeared.

"Thank you. For listening, and for believing in me." She wriggled her fingers free so she could lightly stroke his cheek. "I hope after hearing that sordid tale you understand that you have nothing to worry about with me and Jesse."

Finn nodded. With that, they started eating and began discussing more of what went on at the read-through and the upcoming rehearsal schedule. He still wasn't thrilled about the whole thing, but the initial shock had worn off and he felt a little more at ease given Rachel's clear disgust with the other guy.

Later that night, he updated Kurt on the situation while they shared glasses of warm milk.

"… and because of all that, I really can't see her being interested in him in that way. So I have nothing to worry about, you know?"

Kurt stirred his milk and looked off in the distance for a moment.

"I _**really **_ don't want to be the voice of discontent, but do you truly believe that? They're going to be rehearsing together intensely for the next four weeks, and then performing eight shows per week for God-knows how long."

Finn shook his head vigorously. "Did you listen to anything I said? The asshole basically crushed her. Like, emotionally and spiritually. Anyway, she and I already talked about the whole sex-scene thing. I trust her that it's professional. Just like she trusts me not to bang my clients."

Kurt made a face. "Your crass description aside, I suppose that's a fair comparison," he conceded before taking a sip from his mug. "But you're not massaging Quinn every day."

"Thank God," Finn muttered, staring down into his drink.

"Sorry," Kurt sighed. "I didn't want to go there, but it seems relevant." He paused. "Did you tell her?"

"Tell her about...?"

Kurt merely rolled his eyes, not buying Finn's efforts to play dumb.

"About you and Quinn."

Finn gritted his teeth and looked straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with his brother. "She knows that I had a girlfriend named Quinn who pressured me into picking a career in high school and then wasn't supportive of it."

"You know that's not what I meant, Finn," Kurt said sharply. "She bared her soul to you about her past relationship woes, and you're holding back."

Finn sat forward on the couch, turning to glare at Kurt. "Her 'past relationship woes' are co-starring with her in an off-Broadway play! I haven't seen Quinn... or _**him**_... in years. And I don't plan to ever again."

His brother merely sighed. "My only point is that it might be easier for her to understand your trepidation if she knew the whole story. Better to tell her a calm, rational manner than to keep her in the dark until jealous!Finn makes an appearance without a proper introduction. Don't you get that?"

Finn sighed as well, sinking back into the couch cushion. "Yeah, I get it," he droned before finishing his milk.

He just didn't want to deal with it.

-)o(- | -)o(- | -)o(- | -)o(- | -)o(- | -)o(- | -)o(- | -)o(-

Reviews appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

AN: This chapter is long. And hopefully interesting as things are kinda moving along.

Thanks to **profitina** for her guidance and hand-holding, and to everyone who's reviewed and favorited and alerted this saga. Your feedback and encouragement is the best.

I still don't own the Glee characters or Spring Awakening.

* * *

><p>"No, no, <em><strong>no<strong>_!"

Calvin cut them off _again_ after Jesse's line right before "The Word of Your Body", and Rachel held back a groan. The rest of their castmates weren't so gracious, as some of them scoffed audibly or rolled their eyes in disgust.

"There isn't enough _**feeling**_! You've read the entire script, you know that this scene sets the foundation of the Melchior and Wendla relationship!" He then launched into one of his diatribes about artistic expression and communicating with the audience.

Jesse did his best to appear interested in the rant, nodding in agreement every few words. But he didn't say anything, his prior assurances that he was working on his delivery having fallen on deaf ears.

Frustrated as she was with the situation, Rachel couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"You know, it's almost 8. Maybe we should stop for the night," Joffrey interjected, to the approval of nearly everyone else in the room.

"Very well," Calvin conceded, casting a withdrawn look of disgust towards Jesse. "But we pick up with this _**first thing **_tomorrow."

With that the group of actors dispersed, a few of them casting sympathetic looks or offering quiet encouragement to the male lead before heading out of the rehearsal space.

Jesse maintained his usual stoic appearance, but Rachel recognized the hint of defeat that crossed his brow once he thought no one was looking.

Now she **really **felt bad.

"Um, I can stay a little while longer if you want to work on the scene."

"Oh, that's not necessary," he said, his arrogant front returning. "I'm sure it's just the timing of the song intro that's throwing me off. I'll have to tell them to fix that."

"Jesse." She was hoping she didn't need to go into any more detail to, as Finn would say, "call bullshit" on his confidence act.

Her ex-boyfriend-turned-co-star was silent for a beat before he sighed. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."

They went through it once before Rachel offered her constructive criticism.

"Remember, you're on stage now, not in front of a camera. You need to focus on vocalizing your emotions more so than displaying them on your face."

He nodded gently, conceding, before they try again. It's better, with more of the emotion and feeling that Calvin so desired coming through.

"Yes! Now _that's _a Melchior the audience will relate to!" she assessed after they finished the scene once again and gathered their things so they could finally head home.

Jesse laughed sheepishly, so unlike his usual bravado, while he slipped on his coat. "You probably think I'm a complete idiot."

Rachel pursed her lips, unsure of how to respond. "I understand what it's like to face a challenge," she said simply. "Better to face it head on than pretend its not there."

"Well, I appreciate you staying to help me face it," he said softly, looking into her eyes so sincerely it was almost creepy.

Rachel shrugged, shuffling some things around in her purse. "We're all in this together, aren't we? By helping you I'm helping the entire production." She paused as they reached the front door of the theater. "Besides, it wasn't keeping me from anything. My roommate has moot court practice and won't be home until Lord knows when, and my boyfriend is working late as well."

Jesse swallowed. "Right, your boyfriend." He pulled an ear-warmer headband out of his pocket and slipped it on, wishing her an abrupt goodbye before setting off into the winter night.

Rachel didn't intend for him to tense up like that, especially after their courteous interactions and the progress they'd made with the scene. Something about it made her feel even worse.

* * *

><p>Finn stirred awake when he felt morning sun on his face, yawning against the back of Rachel's neck. It seemed like whenever he stayed at her place they woke up the same exact way, both on their left sides facing the window. She always woke up first - something about her natural internal body clock and 6 AM elliptical workouts in high school. But she didn't move until he woke up as well... and being there with her made him want to get up and moving <em>way <em>quicker than he did on his own.

He kinda liked that idea, Finn thought as he left a trail of open-mouthed kisses on her neck and shoulder. Rachel brought out the best in him and made him want to really experience life instead of just going through the motions. And he couldn't help but take credit for her being more relaxed and less high-strung than when they'd first met.

At the moment, he mostly took credit for the gentle sighs and moans coming out of her mouth as his tongue danced across her skin and his right hand roamed the smooth plane of her stomach. When his fingers dipped into the hem of her _totally hot _red lace panties she turned her face towards him. Her brown eyes gleamed despite the early hour and her lips latched onto his own.

"Morning, gorgeous," he breathed in between swipes of her probing tongue.

He snaked his left arm behind her turned head, allowing that hand to knead her soft breasts and tease her nipples into hardened peaks. Meanwhile his right hand continued its downward path, middle finger grazing her wet slit. She did her part too, reaching into his boxer-briefs and wrapping her hand around his hardening dick.

"Finn..." she sighed a moment later, her cue that he should move things along. He quickly pulled off her underwear and was about to shift her small body so that she was facing him entirely. But before he could do that, Rachel sat up on her knees and turned to grip her headboard, her (amazing) ass now sticking out right in front of him.

Ohh, so it's _that _kind of morning, he thought as he went completely and totally hard studying her prone position.

"Jeez, Rach," he gasped, reaching up to tease her slick center again while his other hand instinctively found its way to the drawer of the bedside table where she kept the rubbers.

"Mmmph..." she groaned, her hips pushing back against his hand.

As quickly as humanly possible he tore into the foil and rolled the condom on, rising to his knees and positioning himself at her entrance. Once in place, though, he took his time slowly working himself inside her and leaning over to mold his chest to her back.

"Ohh, God, Rach..." he mumbled into her neck. Sex generally feels good, yeah, but nothing compared to being with Rachel. It was totally lame and cheesy but something about feeling her all around him touched him on a deeper level than just physically.

He gave them both a moment to adjust before he started thrusting, slowly, in and out. He closed his eyes, paying close attention to the way her smooth channel felt around him and the little noises she made while he moved. Even in the short time they'd been seeing one another he knew them all. Steady, breathy sighs meant that he should maintain his current pace. When they gave way to deeper moans, he knew to speed up a bit. Finally, her walls tightening around him like a vice grip meant that a _little _pressure from his hand and –

"Oooh... yes... Finn!" she hummed as she spasmed around him almost violently, pushing back against his thrusts.

Opening his eyes and seeing her again sent him right over the edge, too.

"Mmm... Rach..." he sputtered during his final movements before they collapsed onto the mattress in their original spooning position.

"Can I tell you what the best part of that was?" She murmured the question once she'd caught her breath.

"Ummm... the whole thing?" he asked hopefully.

"Ahh, yes, the entire experience was definitely wonderful," she said sweetly, twisting around to kiss him for good measure. "Nonetheless, it was especially excellent that you knew exactly what I wanted without me having to say anything."

Finn couldn't hide his smirk. "Well, you made it easy to figure out when you, you know, turned that way."

"Shhh!" she scolded, slapping the side of his face playfully. "I'm trying to elucidate the depths of our bond and the emotional level of understandi-"

Finn cut her off with a kiss of his own, making sure that it was deep and sensual and otherwise filled with the happiness he felt at the moment.

Eventually he released her mouth and fixed his eyes on hers. "You don't have to explain anything to me about our bond, Rach," he said with assurance. "I feel it, too."

He didn't just mean the sex, either. Sure he was a bit proud of himself for being able to please her without direct instructions. All Quinn did during sex (when they finally got that far) was bark orders at him. It made the whole thing feel like a chore he was doomed to fail at. But it was also more than that, with Rachel. He could tell whether she was having a good day based on how she answered the phone. He knew that a wrinkle in her brow during a meal meant that she was **_really_** enjoying her food. And he noticed that she always sings while doing dishes, but not during other chores.

Each of those things seemed so lame on their own, but it added up to Finn feeling like they truly were connected in a deep and meaningful way. It scared him a little bit, but only because it made him insanely happy.

Finn whistled to himself later that morning as he strolled through the spa's reception area and reviewed the weekly office calendar on the wall behind Laura's desk. She was studying the past month's calendar on her computer screen.

"Hey L, what's shakin'?"

"Noticed that you've been picking up some more hours lately," she commented without looking up from the monitor.

"Yeah, I'm a little less busy with Rachel since she's preparing for the opening of her new show. I really only see her, um, at night. And sometimes in the morning. "

"Right. Spare me the more graphic details, Cassanova." Laura rolled her eyes rather liberally. Then she softened her expression. "Everything's going good, though?"

"_Really _good," he answered, leaning back against the wall behind Laura's desk. "She's spunky and sweet and funny and… amazing. Being with her just feels… _right_." He knew he was staring off into space like a total goof, but he really didn't care.

"And you haven't physically threatened this ex-boyfriend co-star of hers?"

Finn managed an awkward laugh as he filled a cup at the nearby water cooler. "Can't do that until I meet the guy. Which Rachel likely won't allow due to the mere possibility of violence between us. "

"I don't blame her," Laura teased.

"Seriously, though, I trust her. She's never given me a reason not to, so why worry, you know?"

"Well, that's very big of you. Can't be easy knowing that she spends more time with this guy than with you. And I read something about that play, whew!" Laura fanned herself with one hand, a reference the intimate scenes.

Finn took a sip of water and nodded. "They've been rehearsing a lot, but it's all for the show. It's not like he's taking her away from me, or whatever. And at first it was really awkward to think about _those _scenes, but hearing Rachel talk about rehearsing them over and over again… I believe there that it's really just _work_. Also, she says that Jesse has been struggling with this role, since he tried to be a TV actor and hasn't been on a live stage in years. So I mostly feel bad for the guy."

Laura displayed an exaggerated pout and dragged her finger down her cheek from her eye, simulating tears.

Finn indulged in a hearty laugh at his colleague's sarcasm and took another drink of water. They were both silent for a moment before a sly smile played at his lips. "Also, the graphic stuff you don't want to hear about is pretty awesome, so I can't complain about him getting the fake stage version of it."

They both laughed as Samantha arrived for the day, and greeted her as she approached from the spa entrance.

"Hey," she returned, before stopping her tracks and cocking her head to one side while she studied Finn.

Then she wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes.

"You had sex this morning."

He looked down at the floor, unable to keep the blush off of his cheeks.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ohh, I'm gonna bruise you <em>

_Ohh, you're gonna be my bruise!"_

Calvin studied them for a long few seconds after Rachel and Jesse finished "The Word of Your Body" for the first time that day. Rachel held her breath, awaiting the director's latest criticism of the scene. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jesse fraught with the same rigid anticipation. They'd been steadily improving, she thought, over the last few days since she and Jesse worked out some of the kinks on their own. But Calvin always found something that needed tweaking, whether it was timing or inflection or _whatever_. At least they hadn't gotten to the scene until mid-afternoon, meaning that the earlier part of the day had been spent on other parts of the script.

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Okay. Let's move on to the Moritz-failed-his-exam scene in the schoolmaster's office."

Rachel almost laughed at Jesse trying to disguise his look of relief while they took their seats offstage and Calvin moved right on to criticizing the schoolmaster's delivery.

"Seems like we finally got that scene down," she said casually once rehearsal ended for the night.

"Yeah, thanks to you, mostly. I'm sure Calvin will be on my back about something else soon enough," he scoffed. There was an awkward silence until he sighed. "Seriously, though, I'm really happy this is all coming together. And I can't thank you enough for your support," he added softly.

"I told you before, I'm happy to do it for the good of the show." Rachel shrugged, trying to minimize whatever credit might be owed to her assistance.

"Well, you didn't need to be so understanding and helpful, especially with what happened between us before. You're pretty awesome, you know that?" He smiled at her, genuinely, eyes gleaming beneath his perfectly coifed hair.

Rachel was caught completely off guard by the way her heart jumped in her chest at the compliment.

Before she could respond at all, Jesse yawned and looked at his watch. "Do you want to run through that last scene one more time and then call it a day?"

She looked at the clock on her phone, only to gasp in horror at the fact that time had completely gotten away from her. (Evidently Calvin's obsessive tirades went by quickly when they were directed at the supporting cast.)

"Oh no! I'm supposed to have dinner with Finn, downtown, in… half an hour!"

"Oh." Jesse looked off to the side somewhat forlornly while Rachel frantically typed the restaurant address into her phone's map feature.

"Uch, if I leave right now I can still make it, but I won't have time to stop home and make myself presentable." She studied herself in the backstage mirror, tousling her hair and cursing herself for not bringing a nicer outfit to change into.

"Hey, he knows these things happen, right? I'm sure he'll understand and you can reschedule." Jesse gently touched her elbow. "You know, I still haven't met this mysterious Finn. Why don't we all grab a quick bite of takeout or something?" he asked with his trademark syrupy-sweet grin.

Rachel chewed her lip, weighing the possibility of Finn's disappointment against the benefits of dinner with Jesse. She got the sense that her ex/co-star still didn't have much of a social life since he didn't know that many people in town and didn't have time to meet anyone what with their busy rehearsal schedule. She also knew how Jesse could get when he felt like he was being ignored, and she didn't want to jeopardize their working relationship by brushing off his suggestion of a friendly meal.

Also, it wasn't like the two men could avoid each other forever. They might as well get to know one another over some lo mein.

"That's a great idea," she replied, trying to smile. "I'll call him."

* * *

><p>Finn stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, attempting to straighten his tie. Why did it still not look right? he thought to himself.<p>

Glancing at his watch and convincing himself he had time, he loosened the knot _again _and started re-tying it. He wasn't normally so obsessed with his appearance, or interested in wearing ties. But his growing feelings for Rachel made him want to show her how seriously he took their relationship. At some point during the night, he wanted to drop in the L-word.

He hadn't told anyone else about this plan, of course. Kurt was slowly warming up to Rachel but would not approve of such an "overture of commitment" at the early stage in their relationship. And the girls at the spa probably would've just rolled their eyes and called him sappy.

It didn't matter to Finn what other people thought, though. He was 100% in love with Rachel, and just needed the opportunity and proper setting in which to tell her.

Halfway through his latest attempt at a normal-looking Windsor knot, his phone rang.

"Hey Rach," he answered, looking at his watch again and praying that he hadn't entered some kind of time-warp in which he was already late for dinner.

"Hi, baby," she said cheerfully. "I'm _so_ sorry because I know we have reservations at that place you really wanted to go to, but rehearsal ran longer than I expected and I don't have time to go home and freshen up or anything."

His heart sank a little, mainly because she didn't even remember the name of the restaurant when (he thought, anyway) he'd been talking about the place for days.

"Okay. What do you want to do instead?" He happily pulled off the stupid tie as plans for a romantic evening _in_ with Rachel quickly took shape in his mind. They could get dinner from the noodle place, cupcakes from the bakery, maybe even some chocolate-covered strawberries that he could feed her in bed before he told her–

"Um, Jesse asked what we were doing, and he really wants to meet you. Do you want to come over to my place? I'll order Chinese and we'll see you in… 45 minutes?"

Finn swallowed, her question dashing his revised plan for a romantic evening. As much as he'd gotten used to the idea of hearing about Jesse he didn't expect to be sharing a meal with the guy, least of all that night. But he couldn't just say no, disappointment aside.

"Uh, yeah, sure," he responded, afraid of taking any longer to answer.

He heard her breathe a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. "You're the best," Rachel said sweetly. "We'll see you soon!"

Finn arrived at her building at the suggested time and she buzzed him in. Climbing the stairs, he heard the sounds of animated conversation coming out of her apartment door. She'd wedged the door open with the chain-lock so he could see himself in.

"… and then I said, 'You call _this _'background lighting'? There isn't _**nearly**_ enough fluorescent glow to properly illuminate my melancholia!'"

Rachel laughed heartily at whatever Jesse was talking about, then noticed that Finn was there. "Finn! Hi!" she said through her giggles, leaning up to kiss him as he joined her on the couch.

"Ah, the famous masseur Finn of Lima, Ohio," Jesse said, extending his hand.

"Just 'Finn' is fine," he said calmly, shaking the actor's hand. "Good to finally meet you, Jesse."

"Likewise. Rachel's told me over and over again how absolutely wonderful you are."

"Ah, well, I try." Finn slung his arm around Rachel's shoulder and pulled her close to him. Their eyes met and she giggled like a schoolgirl while Jesse looked down at his plate, clearly a little uncomfortable.

Finn didn't want to be a dick or anything, but he was hoping for that sort of reaction.

The joke was on him, though, as _he_ spent the rest of their dinner feeling like the third wheel as Jesse and Rachel went from one high school or Spring Awakening story to another.

"Remember how Mr. Ryerson used to really give it to the pit orchestra musicians during Grease?" Jesse asked, before imitating what sounded like a flamboyantly gay man demanding more emotion from the xylophone. Then he and Rachel dissolved into hysterical laughter.

She rubbed Finn's thigh soothingly, and he tried to remain engaged in their discussion. The story didn't seem all that funny from the outside so all he could manage was a half-hearted chuckle. Nor did he have much to contribute to conversation about their current show.

Instead, he couldn't help but notice the ease with which they communicated and the obvious emotional connection that still existed between them. Rachel did her fair share of holding Finn's hand or touching his leg or leaning into him, but her attention was always turned towards her other guest. Meanwhile Jesse was laying it on really thick, constantly complimenting Rachel and laughing at anything she said that was even remotely funny.

Finn tried his hardest to ignore feelings of paranoia or jealousy or other hostile emotions. He was understanding of their working relationship and whatever history they shared. But it was difficult not to feel slighted considering he'd planned on a very romantic evening with his girlfriend and instead wound up… like this.

Maybe the universe was telling him that it was too soon to say "I love you" to Rachel, he thought, trying to keep the doubt from displaying on his face.

Eventually Jesse excused himself and bid them goodnight.

"See you tomorrow, 'first thing in the morning'!" Rachel told him, apparently imitating their director, which led to more laughter as Jesse departed.

Once the door closed, she turned back to Finn and pressed her lips onto his. He sensed the gratitude there, her thanking him for agreeing to the revised dinner plans.

He really just needed time to digest the turn of events. Curtailing the kiss as gently as possible, he reached for his coat.

"Um, I should go, too. I have a fairly early client in the morning and I didn't bring clothes for tomorrow or anything."

"Oh. Okay," Rachel said, sounding a little surprised but not necessarily disappointed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah," Finn replied, murmuring goodnight as he left her alone in her apartment.

* * *

><p>Rachel was relaxing on the couch with the latest issue of People and a <em>Friends <em>re-run when Santana returned home shortly after Finn's departure.

"Didn't think I'd find you here alone," she said as she deposited her Criminal Procedure casebook on the dining table and hung up her coat.

Rachel yawned, closing the magazine she'd been reading. "What? Oh, yeah, Finn wound up not staying over."

Santana's eyes narrowed. "But didn't he take you out to Chez Fancypants or something? Aren't you obligated to reciprocate with carnal relations?" she asked on her way to the refrigerator.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "We decided to reschedule the fancy meal. Rehearsal ran late and Jesse wanted to meet Finn so they both came over here. There's leftover Chinese if you want—"

"Ay dios mio, chica!" The law student threw her hands up in the air, leaving the carton of Chinese takeout (which she'd found even before Rachel mentioned it) on the counter and turning back towards the living room. "It's bad enough you're spending 12 hours a day rehearsing sex scenes with your ex-boyfriend-slash-current-co-star. Then you cancelled a romantic date with your boyfriend so that the _**three **_of you could have Chinese takeout together? Have you _lost_ it?"

"I fail to see how this is such a big deal."

"And therein lies our problem." Santana entered the living room with the takeout container and sat on the other end of the couch. "Men by their very nature and instinct are territorial. They can't control it. It's, like, science."

Rachel just shook her head. "Nothing is happening with me and Jesse, and Finn knows that. So he has no reason to be territorial, hence why he **agreed **to the new dinner plans in the first place!" She paused. "Besides, if he felt like his 'territory' had been threatened, wouldn't he have stayed to, uh, _mark_ it?"

Santana shrugged. "Sometimes a man whose territory has been violated will react by withdrawing and pouting."

"For a lesbian you sure know a lot about men," Rachel assessed.

"Don't change the subject, Yentl. I'm engaging in this analysis for your own good, since apparently you're too clueless to get there by yourself." Santana took another bite of tofu. "Just because nothing is 'happening' doesn't mean Finn won't feel threatened. He's a masseur; all about body language and physical intuition. You and Jesse used to bone, for fuck's sake, and you're now working together in a very sexually-charged play. I'm sure there's some residual chemistry there that Lurch noticed during your little moo-shoo-a-trois."

"That's ridiculous. We were _friendly _and_ courteous_. Nothing more." She didn't care at this point if she sounded defensive.

"All right, fine." Having quickly finished the leftovers Santana deposited her empty carton in the kitchen garbage before returning to the living room doorway. "Well how about this? Did you consider that maybe Finn wanted to take you somewhere fancy for a _reason_? It's been a few months now, and you two are totally grossly into each other. Maybe there's something _special _he wanted to say to you tonight?"

The Latina raised her eyebrows retreated to her room, leaving Rachel dumbfounded on the couch.

She had **not **considered that.

* * *

><p>AN2: Oh no! Did Rachel screw everything up? Will Finn get over this setback or is his confidence totally shaken? Stay tuned! :)<p>

Oh, and please review so I know how I'm doing.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Today happens to be my birthday, and look at this – you all get a present! This update would not have come together without **profitina**, my faithful beta!friend. Things are really picking up in the story now… or at least I hope so. I'd love a few reviews to let me know how I'm doing with this tale.

Oh, and there's a little bit of M-rated nonsense ahead. ;-)

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Finn unceremoniously tossed his backpack in the corner of the foyer and roughly kicked off his boots before hanging his coat on the rack.

"Home so early without company. Again." Kurt cast him a sideways glance without taking his eyes away from the TV.

"Yeah, Rachel's rehearsing late. Again," he said sourly.

"Hey, I never asked – how did dinner go the other night? That restaurant got amazing reviews and I'm sure Rachel was really impressed…" Kurt turned to face him and trailed off when he saw Finn's forlorn expression.

"We, uh, we didn't go," Finn explained as he got himself a beer from the refrigerator.

"Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?"

Finn grunted as he fell back into the armchair with his beer. "She asked to postpone the fancy dinner because rehearsal ran over that night and she didn't have time to go home and change." He took a long drink as Kurt looked on intently. "_And_ because he wasn't doing anything she decided that Jesse should join us for Chinese at her place."

"She decided?" Kurt inquired with raised eyebrows, muting the TV.

"Well, she asked if it was okay, but what was I supposed to do, say no?"

His mouth twitched in understanding. "Fair enough. But, like, so what? You see Rachel all the time, and you were bound to meet Jesse eventually." Suddenly, a worried expression crossed Kurt's face. "You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"Nah, man, nothing like that." Finn exhaled loudly, eyes focused off in the distance. "I dunno. It was just… weird. They didn't stop talking about high school and Spring Awakening and I couldn't do anything besides listen." He swallowed a drink of beer. "Something about their closeness just doesn't feel right."

Kurt was silent for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face before he spoke. "I know I expressed my doubts about Rachel initially, and I'm sorry if it's played a role in your perception. But I really think you're being paranoid."

"Well, the last time I was in this situation I missed the signs entirely, so you'll forgive me if I'm, like, on alert."

Kurt looked at him pointedly. "The _last _time, you and the girl broke up because you didn't have enough in common and she was overbearing. That's a perfectly normal and reasonable reason for terminating a relationship. I considered it progress, actually," he added wistfully.

Finn rolled his eyes. "Miranda wasn't a relationship. She was… a rebound, several years delayed."

Kurt sighed, turning off the TV. "Regardless, you need to tell Rachel about what happened with Quinn. It'll afford you an opportunity to explain why you're so uncomfortable with Jesse being around. If you two care about each other as much as it seems, she deserves to know about this defining issue in your life."

Finn huffed to himself, unwilling to acknowledge out loud that his brother was right. He also sensed that the universe was trying to prevent him from saying "I love you" until after he told Rachel about his past relationship issues.

Still, the timing was totally off since Spring Awakening was about to open the following weekend. The seemingly non-stop rehearsals meant that Finn hadn't even _seen_ Rachel since their dinner with Jesse. When they talked on the phone she seemed a little tense and nervous about the show. He definitely didn't want to bust out of nowhere with his long, dramatic story… at least until after the show opened and they could actually talk about things properly.

"I hate that these rehearsals are still so all-consuming," she lamented on the phone that night. "Joffrey got Calvin to promise that Sunday would be a 'shorter' day, but I'm not even sure what that means to be honest. In my prior experience, this is when rehearsals should be easing up a bit so we don't burn ourselves out before opening night. Joffrey keeps assuring us that it'll be great, but apparently our _fabulous _director still isn't happy with the flow of some of the darker scenes…" She went on to a more detailed explanation about the issues they were having and how that was impacting the rehearsal schedule.

He noted that she didn't mention Jesse at all, and couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

"Ooof," she sighed when she was finished. "I apologize for ranting so incessantly. How was your day?"

"Eh, it was fine, really." He yawned. "I guess I'm just a little tired."

"We should both get some rest."

Finn could almost see her soft pleasant smile, and it put him at ease.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'll talk you tomorrow?"

"You better!" she replied playfully.

On Sunday she actually did get out of rehearsal earlier than usual. Once he finished dinner with Kurt and his new boyfriend, Finn made his way to her apartment.

Climbing the stairs, he couldn't help but recall the last time he'd been there. The frustration that he'd tried so hard to suppress started bubbling up inside of him.

When Rachel let him in, Finn greeted her by forcefully pressing his lips against hers. Not even caring that Santana might be home he maneuvered them across the living room, quickly stripping off her sweater and bra and kicking her bedroom door closed once they were inside.

Rachel eyed him curiously for a split second before complying with his sense of urgency and pulling him back onto the bed with her. As they crawled up towards the pillows she tugged off his shirt, after which his lips found hers together again and he eagerly plunged his tongue into her silky mouth.

"Mmm, Finn—" Rachel tried to say something when they separated for air, but he quickly fused their mouths together again.

He didn't feel much like talking, he found.

Instead he continued their deliberate, searing kisses, resting his weight on one forearm while his free hand roughly grasped her breast. Rachel groaned, arching into his palm and clutching his back with both hands. From there he planted rough kisses down her neck, chest, and stomach as he pulled off her leggings and panties and tossed them next to the bed.

When he crawled upward to align their bodies again, Rachel caught him off-guard and suddenly he was on his back with her straddling him. She kissed him hard on the mouth while her tiny hands expertly popped open the fly on his jeans.

He liked that she was pushing back with the aggression but didn't want to be outdone. So when she pulled away to shuck his pants and boxers down, he flipped them over yet again, pinning her naked body underneath him and her arms above her head.

"Mmmph," she whimpered, squirming against him and rubbing her legs together.

Heeding that as a cue, he reached in between them to rub her mound before sliding a finger along her dripping slit. She moaned in response and closed her eyes.

Without wasting any more time Finn sheathed himself with a condom from her drawer and plunged inside her in one swift motion without any further preamble.

He maintained eye contact with her the whole time, his smooth, hard strokes and smoldering gaze wordlessly telling her "you're mine."

Rachel's expression was something of a steely-but-sultry gaze. "Harder," she gasped eventually, tensing and digging her fingers into his back.

From there he didn't hold back, thrusting relentlessly until Rachel was quaking underneath him, triggering his own peak. As he climbed toward his release the intensity of the experience overtook him and he sucked – _**hard**_, practically biting her– on the area just above her collarbone. She was coming down from her high and the additional moan she let out made his completion that much more satisfying.

Both entirely spent, they didn't really talk much before drifting off to sleep together. The next morning Finn let Rachel sleep while he got ready, kissing her awake and making her promise to call him later and then departing for work.

He was a little fearful that he'd been too aggressive with her, but she'd pushed back at times and didn't seem mad or anything so he figured she was okay. All in all, the rough sex seemed to have been a good outlet for the frustration he'd been feeling.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Rachel stood in front of the backstage mirror, trying on one of her costumes for the first time. Before she could close the top of the dress, though, she noticed a large purple mark on the right side of her collarbone. A satisfied smirk formed on her face as she recalled the events of the night before. Finn had never been so aggressive in their lovemaking and it had totally turned her on. In hindsight she was almost embarrassed by the way she had responded to his urgent and vigorous lovemaking. Since they hadn't talked much at all, she had no idea where the aggression had come from.

After studying the bruise for another moment, she suddenly remembered her conversation with Santana and the notion of Finn marking his territory. Truth be told, she'd been so busy with rehearsal lately that she still couldn't tell if he was upset about their cancelled dinner date. During their phone conversations over the past week he seemed fine, as far as she could tell. But now, thinking about the way he'd come at her the night before, and the possible motivations behind it… she wasn't so sure.

Regardless, the upcoming opening of the show meant that Rachel simply didn't have the energy for any discussion on the matter for the time-being. As long as they were making time for pleasant phone calls and squeezing in some (incredibly exhilarating) sex, she wasn't going to broach the subject. In a few days she'd settle into her less erratic, less demanding performance schedule, enabling her to refocus on Finn and address any misgivings he may be harboring about their relationship.

"Whoa. You've certainly come a long way if you're letting Finn leave you little souvenirs."

Startled, Rachel looked up into the mirror.

Apparently Jesse had snuck up behind her and saw her examining the purple marks on her skin. His comment was obviously a reference to their relationship, during which she was very concerned with her fathers' scrutiny and fearful of him leaving her with anything resembling a hickey.

"What? Oh." She quickly buttoned up the top of the dress, hoping to avoid any further discussion on the matter.

"Hey, no need to be shy. I'm just teasing," he insisted. "We're friends, aren't we? Friends can have a laugh about each other's love bruises." With that salacious remark he cocked an eyebrow and winked at her as he continued towards the stage.

Rachel laughed uneasily until he was no longer in the vicinity. Since their dinner with Finn and Santana's subsequent so-called advice she was hyper-aware of her interactions with her ex/co-star. Since accepting her assistance in improving his delivery he'd certainly softened from his usual cocky demeanor. This development was pleasantly surprising in that it made working together far less aggravating. However, the combination of his new nice-guy act and the suggestive banter made her wonder if he had designs for her beyond the professional.

She forced a shiver, trying to shake the notion from even the back of her mind.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

On Thursday evening, Finn put on his beige suit (swapping the blue shirt for a yellow one, at Kurt's insistence that he not wear the same exact outfit as his last theater attendance) and headed to the Off-Broadway theater for the Spring Awakening press show. The way Rachel explained it, the performance was essentially a sneak preview for an audience of critics, writers, and other important theater industry types, as well as family and friends of the cast and crew. An uber-serious dress rehearsal before the official opening two nights later.

Having read the script he obviously knew what would happen during the course of the play, but it was still exciting to be seeing Rachel do her thing on stage. Just as with West Side Story, he was immediately struck by the passion behind her performance. And he really felt like he was watching a naïve 19th-century teenager instead of his twenty-something New Yorker girlfriend.

The fact that she was so in-character proved especially helpful during the fateful love scene between Melchior and Wendla at the end of the first act. He was also relieved to see that even when Rachel's chest was exposed it would be hard for anyone in the audience to make out any details of her (awesome) body.

It stung a little, though, to hear people's comments during intermission.

"The chorus sounds great during the ensemble numbers," a man wearing press credentials remarked while waiting for a drink at the bar.

"Forget the ensemble, how about the chemistry between the two leads!" the woman next to him implored. "That last scene – phew!" She emphasized her assessment by fanning herself with one hand.

"That Wendla has a nice little body on her, doesn't she?" An older lady waiting in line for the rest room remarked to her friend, who nodded in agreement.

"I hear that the two leads used to date when they were in high school!" he heard another man say while the audience settled back into their seats for the start of the second act.

"No wonder they convey so much youthful, innocent passion together!" The woman beside him scoffed. "Do you think they're together again?"

Settling back into his seat, Finn sighed. He wished the chatter could just roll off his back. Telling Rachel he loved her would mean expressing an implied commitment to a possible long-term future together, meaning he'd need to get used to this eventually. If part of her being a big star meant a brief topless scene and meaningless speculation about her love-life, he'd learn to deal with it as long as she was happy.

He also figured he'd feel better about things once the show's opening weekend was over and he could tell Rachel about Quinn and then _**finally **_say those three special words to her.

By the time the second act was through he'd once again forgotten the unspoken issues they'd been dealing with and was simply happy for Rachel on her big night. When he met her at the stage door she was practically glowing with excitement.

"Hellooo!" Upon greeting him she immediately snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a giddily passionate kiss.

"Hey there, star," he said softly, gathering her in his arms after they broke apart.

"It's finally happening, Finn," she practically whispered in his ear. "It's real." When he loosened her from the hug he saw that her eyes were shimmering a little.

"So… we get to celebrate now, right?" He hoped to diffuse some of the heavy emotions she was obviously feeling so that she could enjoy the rest of the night.

"Yes," she answered with a giggle, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "We get to celebrate."

She introduced him to a few of her castmates, and together they walked to a nearby restaurant for the after-party. In his haste to meet Rachel after the final curtain Finn had skipped the long rest-room lines at the theater, and as a result he made a beeline for the men's room once they arrived at the restaurant.

On his way to the urinal he passed two men at the sinks. He held back a grin when they paused their discussion of the play to look him up and down. They were both wearing press credentials, and may very well have been assessing whether he was involved with the show instead of just checking him out. Regardless, they started talking again once he was set up to do his business and appeared not to be listening to their conversation.

"So what did you think of the two leads?" one of them asked while he dried his hands.

"Mmm, well Berry is fantastic," the other man answered while fixing his hair in the mirror. "I didn't think much of St. James on his own, but there's no denying that together they have great chemistry."

"I agree that her performance greatly surpassed his… to the extent that she carried both of them at certain points." He paused as he threw his paper towel away. "And based on the sex scene I have no trouble believing that rumor that they dated in the past. Maybe if he's lucky there will be whispers about them starting up again."

The other guy chuckled. "That may be enough to distract everyone from his lackluster delivery in the first act."

This time they laughed together as they exited. Finn exhaled and zipped his fly back up. He wasn't happy about the reference to Rachel and Jesse dating if it came on the heels of such awesome compliments for her performance.

While he washed his hands, the door to one of the stalls creaked open, and he looked up into the mirror just in time to see Jesse St. James stalk across the bathroom and out the door, grumbling something about "generating a distraction if it's necessary," without even noticing that Finn was there.

"Huh." Finn grunted out loud as he tried to process what just happened.

A moment later Finn left the restroom and re-entered the main area of the restaurant, filled with cast, crew, guests, and media people. Scanning the room, he spotted Rachel in the crowd, talking to one of the many reporters with Jesse right at her side.

Realizing that he couldn't just bust in on their interview and shout into the tape-recorder that he's Rachel's boyfriend, he did the next logical thing possible and stopped at the bar to order a scotch and soda. While waiting for his drink he saw Jesse laugh indulgently and made a flirty face at Rachel, slipping his arm around her waist. Finn smiled when Rachel subtly shimmied out of his grasp while politely answering the reporter's next question.

Finn joined them when the reporter had moved on to another actor, sidling up to Rachel and squeezing her to his side. Then he greeted her co-star with a curt nod. "Jesse."

"Finn!" Jesse said excitedly, extending his hand which Finn reluctantly accepted. "Good to see you, buddy!"

Before they got past the greetings, Rachel went off with the other female cast members to talk to the editor of some women's magazine about the play's depiction of young girls, and Jesse was snapped up for a video interview of his own.

Curious as to how the ass-clown was handling what he overheard in the restroom, Finn sat his drink on the bar, where he was within earshot of the interview. He pretended to be engrossed in his Playbill while he listened.

"…and I think it's going to do very well. It's definitely been a great experience so far. Rachel and I have _**fantastic **_chemistry and I'm thoroughly enjoying working with her." He looked right into the camera with a big smile.

"Ah yes, I heard that you and your co-star have a little history, _hmm_?" the reporter asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jesse laughed in response. It sounded so forced and staged and _fake _that Finn couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Ah, well, it was so long ago that it's _**ancient**_ history, really," Jesse answered into the microphone. "But it's definitely served us well here, old habits and all." With that he winked and the reporter concluded the interview.

The interview that would be all over and whatever other website were being used to promote the show, Finn thought as he gritted his teeth.

"Baby? You okay?" Rachel was apparently done with the ladies' interview and had joined him at the bar.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he sighed, trying to relax.

When Rachel was approached by a musical theater blogger he took advantage of her diverted attention and downed the rest of his drink in one gulp.

Before she could make her way back to him, Finn saw one of the producers whisk Rachel away towards the center of the room where they were assembling the cast for a photo. Rachel took her place next to Jesse and the rest of the actors gathered around, squishing the two leads into the center of the group. Then, as the photographer set up for the shot, Jesse quickly snaked his arms around Rachel, turning her body toward him so that they were pressed together facing each other. Finally, he slid his hand down and rested it directly on Rachel's ass.

Finn wasn't entirely positive, but he thought he saw Jesse sneer at him as he did so.

Finn looked around the room to make sure Rachel was distracted before slinking towards the door. Once outside he took a deep breath of chilly winter air, trying to quell the anger that threatened to rise up inside of him. He'd worked so hard to cope with the circumstances but it was all for naught due to his growing mistrust of Jesse.

"Finn?" Rachel's voice was small when she found him a moment later.

"I just needed some air." He tried to keep his voice even and stared off into the distance.

"No, Finn!" He was afraid she'd be angry but her voice was soft as she reached up and pulled him close to her, eyes gazing at him softly. "I know we've talked about this before and you said that you're fine, but clearly you're _not_, and I feel like there's something you're not telling me. So you don't get to just walk away without explaining why you're _really _so uncomfortable about me being around Jesse."

He sighed. At first Finn had been fearful of her working with Jesse simply because of his own past relationship experiences, and he didn't want to burden Rachel with that as her play was opening. Now, if his instincts about Jesse were correct, it was slightly more complicated than that, for reasons that directly _involved _the show. Finn knew that the right thing to do was to come clean about everything, but it didn't seem like the right time or place.

Meanwhile, Rachel stared at him expectantly.

"It's a _**long **_story," he intoned, shifting slightly and looking down at the sidewalk.

"I've got time. So, please. Start from the beginning." She darted out into the street with her arm extended. "Taxi!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

AN2: For whatever reason, the preceding chapter was heavy on Finn's POV. But next chapter we'll finally hear about what _**really**_ happened between with Quinn. Update should be quick now since I've already had that part written out for quite some time.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: This is kind of a short chapter but (I hope) it sets everything up for the rest of the saga. Also it's entirely from Rachel's POV which is strange since we know how I like to jump back and forth.

Thanks to **profitina** for the beta, and to everyone who's reviewed, alerted, favorited, etc.

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Once they were safely in a cab, Rachel directed the driver towards Finn's apartment. It seemed right that they be at his place if he was about to delve into a "long story" about his romantic past.

They didn't talk during the ride, which only made Rachel more curious as to what exactly Finn would be revealing. When they arrived at his building and ascended to his apartment, Finn took his time hanging up Rachel's coat and then his own. Then he dawdled in the kitchen getting each of them a glass of water.

Rachel tried to be patient. It was bad enough she'd essentially demanded that he tell her the story that night; letting him start when he was ready was the least she could do.

Finally, they sat next to each other on the couch. Finn's brow wrinkled. She could practically hear him thinking of where exactly "the beginning" was.

"I told you that I was blackmailed into joining Glee club sophomore year, right?"

Rachel nodded, smiling instinctively at the memory of their first date.

"We still needed more people, so Mr. Schue somehow got a few of my football teammates to join too, including my best friend Puck."

"Puck? Like from A Midsummer Night's Dream?" Rachel perked up, spitting out the question without thinking.

"Shakespeare, Finn," she added when he didn't respond, earning only a blank stare. "Never mind, it's not important. Go on."

"Anyway, after promising to go to church with her every Sunday and make some celibacy club posters or whatever, I also got my girlfriend Quinn to join, and she got a few other cheerleaders into it as well. Things were going okay. We had almost enough members to compete and were starting to sound halfway decent." He got a far-away look in his eyes, as if he was wondering what could have been. "Then, without giving any real reason, Quinn quit. She just insisted that she couldn't do it anymore – she didn't want to hurt her reputation by being a glee club loser, she was too busy with her other activities, whatever. With her random mood swings I never wanted to push her when she was upset. Without her, the other cheerleaders had no reason to stick around so they bailed too. We never got up to twelve members, so that was the end of that."

"How sad!" Rachel said, thinking back to her own high school where glee club had been a thriving and successful institution. "What about your arrangement with the teacher? The blackmail?"

"Oh, he let me off. Said that I did my best and it wasn't my fault we didn't attract enough people. It probably didn't help that he basically made up the story about finding drugs in my locker."

Rachel giggled and Finn indulged in a laugh along with her before seemingly remembering that he was supposed to be angry and steeling his expression once again.

Meanwhile, Rachel still wasn't sure where the story was going. "So, uh, what does that have to do with…"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I kept dating Quinn throughout high school. She clearly loved being the head cheerleader dating the quarterback. Typical all-American popular couple, you know? But even with all the good things that happened – being voted homecoming king and queen, prom king and queen, 'most likely to succeed' – she still wasn't happy. In fact, looking back on it, she was a bitch almost _all _the time." Finn took a drink, swallowing hard. "I put up with it because I cared about her, and I guess I let her convince me that it was my fault in some way. Or at least that it was my responsibility to make her happy."

"Were you happy?" she asked quietly.

Finn shrugged in response. "I guess I never really thought that was important, you know?"

She nodded slowly. Finn was so caring and selfless that Rachel didn't have trouble imagining him as a teenager in that situation, putting a girl's happiness before his own and taking her disappointment to heart.

"Like I think I mentioned, senior year Quinn was up my ass about career stuff and eventually I decided to go to massage therapy school in Akron. From the very beginning I liked the classes, and **loved **the feeling that I could make something of myself. But Quinn never really seemed to care. I assumed she was stressed from adjusting to her first college semester."

He paused, absently dragged his thumb across some of the condensation on his water glass.

"One day during winter break she went shopping with her mom, so I made plans to see Puck. He was still living in Lima, running the pool-cleaning business he started in high school and doing some other handyman type work. Anyway, we were playing video games in his mom's basement and I started talking to him about how Quinn wasn't being supportive about my school stuff. Just venting, you know?"

Rachel nodded, urging him on.

"Puck basically exploded at me, said that I was 'too fucking oblivious to live' and that I should just be thankful she wanted me. I had no idea where that was coming from, so I asked what the hell was up with him. He told me that our sophomore year, right before we all joined glee club, he and Quinn slept together."

"Ohh, Finn," Rachel said, her heart breaking for the 16-year-old version of her boyfriend.

"The celibacy queen, giving it up to that douche while her _moronic _boyfriend respected her wanting to 'save herself.'" He laughed, somewhat sinisterly. "Meanwhile, they weren't even… _responsible_. Puck wanted them to come clean, raise the baby together, the whole deal. Even though she had strict Christian beliefs, Quinn was too afraid of what her parents would think of him and their situation so she… she took care of it."

Rachel gasped, unable to contain her shock as the story took an even more sordid turn.

"So, Puck explained, that's why they quit glee. He said he tried to stay away from her after that, since he was pissed about the baby and felt guilty about betraying me. But he still wanted to be with her, and Quinn knew that. Apparently she went to him every few months, hysterical over how sorry she was and how she wanted to be with him too but couldn't because of whatever circumstances she invented in her head."

Rachel was truly flabbergasted at hearing this part of the tale. She knew from their prior discussions that Quinn was bossy and manipulative about Finn's extracurricular activities, social agenda, and career path. And evidently she had treated him so poorly while cheating on him with his best friend and harboring feelings for the Puck character, all while stringing Finn along.

"Listening to him say all of that… there were so many little things I could have – _**should**_ have – noticed that whole time, you know? Them quitting glee the same week, how he kept avoiding us, the way Quinn was always upset whenever I saw her and Puck talking…" Finn looked sheepishly off into the distance and swallowed glumly. "He was right. I was completely oblivious."

Rachel took his hand gently, intertwining her fingers with his as a nonverbal show of support since she didn't know what to say.

"Anyway, I went right to Quinn's parents' house and waited for her on the porch. When she got back, I'm sure her entire block heard me shouting at her about how she kept something like that from me for over three years. She yelled right back about how hard she tried with our relationship because we both deserved the 'perfect' life. The blonde cheerleader and the quarterback needed each other," he scoffed. "It's like she wasn't even sorry. I stormed out of there and haven't spoken to her – or Puck – since. I finished my degree, applied to every out-of-state job I could find, took the gig with the Rangers, and never looked back. I'm lucky my parents enjoy visiting me and Kurt here. Saves me the pain of going back to Lima."

She stroked his arm in an effort to comfort him and he didn't protest, but he remained tense and he looked straight ahead.

"At the risk of opening another wound, what happened with your other girlfriend? The one you met here?"

"Miranda." Finn's mouth settled into a straight line for a moment. "She didn't cheat on me or anything, if that's what you're asking. But she was _just _like Quinn with the bossiness and mood swings and criticizing all of my choices. I guess when we got together I thought I was ready to move on, but I wasn't."

Putting aside her misgivings that he _still _wasn't ready, Rachel tried to placate him. "Look, Finn, I feel really badly about canceling our date to have dinner with Jesse. But I _promise _you, there's nothing going on between us and—"

"Oh, never mind all that," Finn said hurriedly. "I'm more concerned about how he's going to screw up your career."

Not expecting the change of subject nor his cryptic remark, Rachel looked at her boyfriend quizzically. He proceeded to recount the conversation he overheard in the men's room. Her face brightened upon hearing the critics' positive comments about her performance before their discussion of Jesse's shortcomings. She gasped audibly upon hearing their suggestion that a romantic scandal would benefit him, and cringed at Jesse's reaction to hearing it.

"Oh... so when we were being interviewed... and taking the cast picture... Uch! What a jackass! I should've known that he was only motivated by his own self-preservation!" Rachel felt her blood begin to boil. She stood from the couch and started pacing. "To think I went out of my way to be _friendly _towards Jesse, helping him with lines and inviting him to dinner with us and encouraging him when I could have merely been civil. When I see him tomorrow I'm going to tell him that he is the most selfish person I've ever met and a disgrace to the performing arts if he feels the need to compensate for his deficiencies by—"

"Rach… Rach!" Finn grabbed her hand, stilling her and pulling her back onto the couch. "You can't do that. If you let on that you know about all this, he'll just get upset and defensive and you don't need to deal with that during opening weekend. For now you'll just have to… go along with it."

" 'Go along with it'?"

"We're not even sure he plans to _do _anything besides stand close to you in pictures and try to start rumors," Finn pointed out. "And I'm not saying you should feed any rumors he gets going. But keep helping him with lines and being friendly, and don't deny your past relationship if it comes up in an interview or whatever."

Rachel sighed. "Still, I don't want to be a pawn in his little self-serving game, letting him manipulate public perception for the sake of his reputation as an actor."

"It doesn't seem like you have a choice except to play it cool. Also, you'll forgive me for underestimating the Broadway media but I don't think his plan is going to work. Better for you to focus on the big picture and makes sure the play does well."

She sighed again, thinking about what a turn things had taken from the party, when Finn was clearly upset by Jesse's advances, veiled as they were.

"Don't you want to just bash his head in, though?" she asked angrily after a moment.

Finn laughed, stroking her arm gently. "I do, believe me. But if I overreact I'm being just as selfish as him, you know?" He took a deep breath and exhaled before turning his body towards hers. "Telling you the Quinn story reminded me that hostility and anger aren't the answer. Things may have worked out for me professionally after college, but I held onto those negative feelings for **so **long. Until… recently."

"How recently?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the comment.

Finn grinned slyly. "Oh, I'd say just before New Year's, when I met this totally awesome girl who I'd do anything for." He slung his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her body to his side while kissing her temple.

She let herself get lost in the warmth of not only Finn's physical presence but also his kindness and support and how safe he made her feel.

"I love you, Rachel."

His quiet words went straight to her heart, causing it to swell as if it might leap out of her chest. Instinctively, she leaned up and pressed her mouth against Finn's for a heartfelt and passionate kiss.

"I love you too," she breathed against his soft lips when they broke apart.

She hoped their love was enough to weather or avert whatever storm Jesse hoped to stir up.

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Reviews make me squee! 3


	10. Chapter 10

_Hello friends! Sorry for the long wait – I toyed around with this installment for far too long until I produced something passable. Thanks to **profitina **for her faithful service._

_See previous chapters for disclaimers. _

o0o0o0o0o0o

After she and Finn deduced that Jesse was up to no good, Rachel was absolutely livid. 'Playing along' wouldn't have been so difficult – she is an actress, after all, and in her professional endeavors she had to put up with colleagues that she couldn't stand. But she was just so **angry **at the idea that Jesse planned to stir up rumors instead of merely working harder to improve his performance.

Nonetheless, she remained polite and courteous in their offstage interactions, all the while on the lookout for increasingly flirtatious behavior or other efforts to garner her good graces. Strangely enough, she didn't detect any such activity. At first she thought that he might be waiting until after the craziness of opening weekend, but time stretched to over a week with no discernible change. If anything, Jesse had been initiating fewer conversations than before.

Was that itself cause for greater concern? Rachel was starting to over-analyze the situation while removing her makeup after their second Wednesday matinee.

"Oh man…" She heard Jesse's voice behind her. Looking in the corner of the vanity mirror she saw the reflection of him stretching his arms over his head while he deeply yawned.

"Tired?" she asked with a smirk.

"You could say that. I didn't realize how hard this eight-shows-a-week business would be," he said sheepishly.

Instinctively, Rachel offered a warm smile. "It takes some getting used to."

"I suppose it does," Jesse agreed, sitting down next to her. There was a moment's pause while he shifted uncomfortably, as if he wanted to say something.

Here we go, Rachel thought to herself.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you," he began, "where does Finn work?"

Needless to say, that wasn't what Rachel was expecting him to say. Her eyes narrowed immediately but she tried to act natural.

"The spa in the W Hotel," she answered nonchalantly, dabbing off the last of her eyeliner before gathering all of her used cotton balls and discarding them in the small wastebasket nearby. Determined to keep her demeanor casual, she didn't dare look up at Jesse.

"Oh, very nice," he responded. "Do you think he can fit me in for an appointment sometime in the next few days? I think a massage might help me adjust to the rigor of the schedule." As if for added effect, he stretched again.

"Mmm, I don't know, I'll need to ask him." Rachel stood, gathering her things and slipping on her coat. "But I'll let you know what he says!" She tried to sound cheerful even though she was wary about bringing up the subject.

"Thanks," Jesse said with a warm smile. "I appreciate it."

One effect of the eight-shows-a-week schedule for Rachel was that she and Finn had established Wednesdays as their standing date night. They saw one another on other nights (and therefore mornings) of the week, and usually on Mondays as well. But after a busy weekend of shows Rachel was tired, and spent her day off lazing around inside or doing chores and errands, with or without Finn.

Following Wednesday matinees, by contrast, she felt energized and eager to enjoy an evening out with her favorite man.

They'd decided to alternate between each of their neighborhoods, trying a new restaurant each week. Whenever they ate near Finn's apartment they also stopped off at the dessert shop they'd made a habit of patronizing. Tonight, as had also previously become a custom, the pair combined the consumption of pastries with _other _physically indulgent activities.

The result was that Rachel didn't mention her conversation with Jesse until much later that night when they were getting ready to go to bed. (To sleep, this time.)

"He _**what**_?!" Finn bolted out from the bathroom, toothbrush hanging from his mouth as he gaped at her. Rachel was sitting up in bed, shoulders stiff with anticipation.

Finn darted back into the bathroom and emerged another minute later, laughing sheepishly as he got under the covers with her. "I'm sorry, babe. I _thought_ you said that Jesse wants an appointment with me. But I must've heard wrong."

Rachel exhaled dramatically, allowing her shoulders to sag back down to their usual position. Finn rarely employed sarcasm, using it only when caught off-guard. So she figured he wasn't necessarily angry, and therefore pressed on.

"It's obviously not an idea I expect you to love. But you agreed that I need to 'play along' with Jesse's nice-guy act for now, until we figure out what he's scheming about." Her mouth twitched up in a sly smile. "In fact, I seem to recall that initially I was prepared to give that idiot a piece of my mind and you reminded me that it would be best not to—"

"Yeah, yeah, you recall correctly," Finn muttered before taking a deep breath and exhaling as well, eyes gazing up at the ceiling. "I think I can fit him in on Friday afternoon, but I'll have to check the calendar when I go in tomorrow to confirm the exact time."

Rachel squealed, relieved at his acquiescence, and peppered his cheek with kisses. "Thank you, Finn."

Finn sighed and turned toward her. "You're right that I'm not super happy about the idea. But I love you, and Jesse is your ex/coworker/friend/whatever, and if I help him I'm really just helping you." Then his brow wrinkled, a cute face he made when he was thinking. "Could this be part of his plan somehow?"

"Now you're just being paranoid," Rachel said as she snuggled into his side. "I can't imagine it has anything to do with anything," she added with a yawn.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Friday afternoon Finn sat in the spa's staff lounge, leafing through one of the trashy celebrity magazines that they kept in the waiting room. He ignored the remnants of his lunch strewn on the table in front of him as he deftly turned the flimsy pages, not so much reading as distracting himself from thinking about what lay ahead.

He'd already done enough of that, and concluded that Jesse _must _be up to something. There were plenty of spas in New York where he could get a decent massage, and no normal guy specifically seeks to get one from his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend unless he wants to start trouble. Of course, he didn't force that issue with Rachel, since she seemed convinced otherwise.

The bell tolled in the form of Samantha coming to retrieve him.

"Finn? Your 1:30 is all set in Room 3."

"Thanks."

He reluctantly cleared his trash and followed her out of the break room before proceeding down the hall.

"Hey, Jesse," he said flatly as he entered and approached the supply shelf in the corner of the room.

"Finn, my man!" Jesse replied excitedly from the massage table. "Thanks for fitting me in. I really appreciate it."

"Not a problem." So far so good with the polite and pleasant, he thought. After checking on the supplies he gave Jesse his introductory spiel about the basic massage. Jesse asked if he could use a technique that would best help the circulation in his vocal chords. Finn resisted the urge to roll his eyes and agreed to concentrate on his neck and shoulders.

"So… you and Rachel, huh?" Jess asked once the massage had begun.

Here we go, Finn thought. "Yep, me and Rachel," he answered, trying not to sound wary about where the conversation was going.

"How long has it been for you two now?"

Finn honestly wasn't sure if he was supposed to start counting from their first date or from when they committed to each other exclusively. "About three months." Either way it wasn't really Jesse's business and he wanted to keep his answers short.

"Ah, so still fairly new," the actor assessed. "You wouldn't know it by the way she gushes about you… but she tends to fall hard. When we first got together I had her wrapped around my finger **really **quickly."

Finn snickered half-heartedly in response, not wanting to prolong the discussion any further.

"I'm serious, man. When she and _**I**_ were dating…"

Jesse mentioned a few other features of his past relationship with Rachel before relaxing amidst the massage and quieting down.

His comments – which included some chauvinistic references to their sex-life – were obviously meant to make Finn jealous and defensive. Apparently Jesse was trying to get under Finn's skin instead of wooing Rachel directly. The tactic may have worked on Finn a few years ago, when he was less secure and too easy to react to threats to his relationship. This time, he simply gritted his teeth while channeling his frustration into Jesse's (small, underutilized) muscles.

The rest of the massage proceeded uneventfully, and Jesse said that he would call to schedule another appointment "if today's treatment alleviates my distress."

Once Finn had seen Jesse off, Laura informed him that his only remaining client for the day cancelled. Eager to put the workday behind him, Finn said goodbye to his co-workers and headed for the subway downtown.

Irked as he was by Jesse's behavior, he tried not to think about it. Luckily he wasn't planning on seeing Rachel until the next night, meaning she would see Jesse first. Since he was sure to say that the massage went well, Finn figured that when Rachel mentioned it he could just agree with whatever Jesse told her.

That plan went out the window when he returned to his apartment to find Rachel there with Kurt, sharing some afternoon tea.

"You're home early," Kurt commented.

"Hi, baby!" Rachel stood to kiss him after he'd shed his coat and joined them in the living room. "I texted Kurt this morning to ask if he DVRed _Real Housewives_, and he told me that he had off today so we got together for lunch!" she explained excitedly.

"Cool," Finn said quietly as he sat down next to Rachel on the couch, trying not to seem uneasy.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked, eying him cautiously.

"What? Yeah, I'm good," Finn insisted. "Sorry if I'm interrupting," he added with a playful eye-roll, as if that might explain whatever tension he was displaying.

"Nonsense," Rachel said sweetly. "You still come first for me, no matter what!"

Finn smiled through a wince in response while she patted his knee gently. He felt emotionally distant from her such that he couldn't even enjoy the reassuring touch of her small hand. He didn't like it.

"So anyway," Kurt began, regaining Rachel's attention, "Blaine's birthday is coming up and I'm not sure what to do…"

While his brother went on about whatever the predicament was, Finn's mind swirled with his own dilemma. It was only a matter of time before Rachel remembered that this afternoon was his appointment with Jesse and asked how it went. He couldn't lie to her, but what was he supposed to say? She had a show in a few hours and he didn't want to upset her.

There was also the chance that he was just being sensitive to Jesse's general jackassery which wasn't meant to be personal, he acknowledged internally.

"Finn, are you _**sure**_ you're all right?" Rachel asked suddenly.

"Yeah, you're awfully quiet today," Kurt chimed in, "even for you."

At that comment Finn's girlfriend and stepbrother shared a hearty chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," he said soothingly. Then he smiled, realizing that flattery might make up for his sour mood. "_**Someone**_ wore me out last night."

Kurt rolled his eyes while Rachel giggled. Then she looked at the clock.

"Well, on that note, I need to get to the theater." She stood and slipped on her coat before turning to Kurt. "Thank you for lunch, my dear." They kissed each other once on each cheek.

Then Finn stood and walked Rachel to the door. "We're still on for tomorrow?"

"Yes, sir! I will expect you at the theater at 10 PM sharp!" she said cheerfully. "Oh! I almost forgot to ask – how was the appointment with Jesse?"

"It was fine," he said, fighting off the urge to grimace. "Not the most wonderful hour of my life but also not the worst. Uneventful, really."

"Okay, I'm glad." Rachel seemed satisfied enough with the response.

With that she kissed him goodbye and left. Finn breathed a sigh of relief when she was safely away, leaving the foyer and turning to retreat to his bedroom.

"Okay, what's up with you?!" Kurt cornered him before he even reached the hallway.

"It's nothing, Kurt, I swear," he insisted. "It's just… been a long week."

"All right," his brother said, despite not seeming entirely convinced. Then his mood shifted. "Well, I'm going out for the evening. Don't wait up." The well-coifed man winked as he glided out the door.

Alone in the apartment, Finn sighed. Not being able to talk to Kurt bothered him just as much as not sharing his feelings with Rachel. But he wasn't sure if he could trust his brother to keep anything from his girlfriend, since they were having secret spontaneous lunches without him.

Frustrated, Finn hoped to Grilled Cheesus that the nonsense with Jesse would blow over as quickly as possible.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Her afternoon with Kurt and surprise appearance by Finn meant that Rachel barely made it to the theater on time before that evening's performance of _Spring Awakening_. She didn't have enough time to ask Jesse's opinion of Finn's massage, and made a mental note to inquire about that the following morning.

After the final curtain, Rachel quickly changed out of her costume and hastily removed her makeup, eager to go home and get a good night's sleep before a busy weekend of shows.

On her way towards the exit, she stopped when she heard Jesse's voice coming from a side hallway that led to the wings. It seemed like he was on the phone.

"I told you, it's not going to be that easy. She and this guy are fairly serious, it seems." There was a pause while he listened to whoever was speaking on the other end of the line.

"Well I _tried _that, but he didn't take the bait." Jesse sighed just as he came into her field of vision. Rachel crept closer, keeping her body behind a curtain while peering around it carefully. Luckily Jesse was facing away from her, leaning his arm on a nearby wall.

"I paid the Neanderthal to give me a massage, for Christ's sake! ...No, it was lovely, thank you, but I very well could have gotten one from a female masseuse who isn't dating my costar!"

Rachel had to suppress a gasp as she realized that Jesse was talking about Finn.

"I don't know," Jesse said after another pause, still irritated. "He seemed annoyed, yes, but he didn't _**do **_anything about it. My source said that inciting his jealousy would result in a tirade, but apparently that's not true. Or at least it hasn't happened yet. So we may need to find another way… Yes… Okay, bye."

Despite being stunned by what she overheard, Rachel managed to slink away quietly before Jesse turned around.

Gritting her teeth, she hailed a cab and gave the driver Finn's address.

o0o0o0o0o0o

_Reviews are love! : )_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hello one and all. It's been a while and for that I apologize. Hope this chapter makes up for it._

_Thanks to **profitina** for beta-ing and everyone who's reviewed, followed, favorited, or otherwise engaged with this story._

_See prior chapters for disclaimers._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Why didn't you just _tell_ me?!"

Finn tried to steady the bottle of beer he was holding when Rachel barged through the door of his apartment, practically pummeling him.

"I, uh, er—" He was so surprised to see her that formulating a response proved impossible.

"Don't play dumb with me, sir!" she shouted, accusingly pointing a finger at him and forcing him backward from the foyer to the living room. "I overheard Jesse having a phone conversation about his afternoon massage with an apparent co-conspirator!" With that she threw her arms in the air and flopped onto the couch in an exaggerated show of disbelief, still clad in her coat.

Finn sat down calmly in the nearby armchair. Despite his shock at her unannounced appearance he couldn't help but be amused by his girlfriend's dramatics. "Would you like anything?" he asked with a smirk, raising his beer before taking a swig.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "What I would _like _is for my boyfriend to be honest with me about what's going on," she said sharply, before exhaling in defeated fashion. "What _happened_ this afternoon?"

Finn sighed. "I didn't think it was such a big deal. Seriously. Jesse came for his massage, and of course he was, like, snooty to me. He talked about how you and him used to date and… do other things. Seemed like he was trying to get under my skin but I just tried to let it go," he explained with a shrug. "Why? What was he saying on this phone call?"

He listened intently while she explained what she'd heard.

"His 'source'? This guy has a 'source' on me?!"

"Evidently. And it's someone who knows about your reaction to learning about Puck and Quinn," she explained, her eyes glancing uneasily at the floor and then back up at him. "Who do you think it could be?"

Finn groaned. "How the crap am I supposed to know? You want me to call up everyone in Lima and ask if they recently told anyone about the time I found out my girlfriend cheated on me and screamed at her in the street?!"

"_Okay_, Finn, relax." She took a deep breath. "What do you think we should do about it?"

He sighed, picking at the label of his bottle. "Maybe the best thing to do is just wait and see—"

"No, Finn!" she shouted at him suddenly. "I'm tired of just _waiting_ to see what happens. It's obvious that Jesse's up to something and I don't want to let him advance any further with his scheme."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. Meanwhile Rachel's face grew serious and she inched to the end of the couch, reaching over and taking his free hand in both of hers.

"For years, I let Jesse – and the way he broke up with me – control my life. I was so damaged and shaken that I didn't want to get close to anyone because I was afraid of getting hurt again. I didn't even realize how much that mindset affected the rest of my life – my ability to make friends, my willingness to take risks in my career…" She smiled wistfully, running her fingertips over Finn's knuckles as she looked into his eyes. "Then I found someone who allowed me to open up and let go of that fear, someone who makes me feel incredible and _loved_ and… **whole**. Someone who supported me when I needed it and gave me confidence in myself and helped me get where I am today—" she took in a shaky breath "—and who _**I know**_ will always be there for me."

Her voice had grown so wrought with emotion that Finn felt a lump forming in the back of his own throat. He put down his beer and reached up to touch the side of her face, sliding his fingers into her hair and stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"Anyway," Rachel said, her tone evening out again, "I will **not **give Jesse St. _**Jackass **_the opportunity to mess with any of that now." She gave Finn a hopeful smile and lightly patted his hand, which was still pressed against her neck. "So… what do you say?"

He thought his heart might leap out of his chest. Obviously he had no idea what Rachel had in mind as far as a proactive way of dealing with Jesse, and the idea still made him nervous. But if she felt that strongly about the situation – and about **them** – how was he supposed to deny her anything?

"Okay, Rach." He took a deep breath. "What do you think we should do?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Odd as it seemed, Rachel felt good. Empowered. Ready to take on the thing which might defeat her.

Their matinee show on Saturday went on uneventfully. After the curtain fell the crew immediately sprung into action resetting the stage to the first scene in anticipation of the evening performance. Meanwhile, most of the cast scampered off, eager to make the most of the 3-hour break between shows. Usually Rachel kept to a strict, solitary schedule which entailed a brief nap and dinner in her dressing room followed by a quick vocal warm-up before the 8 p.m. curtain.

Today, though, she lingered on stage, practicing her blocking for her final scene... or pretending to, anyway. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Jesse approaching her.

"Need help going over something?" he asked timidly.

"Oh, yes, actually!" she answered warmly. "I'm just going over the blocking for 'Whispering.' I'm concerned that I'm not capturing enough of the emotion."

Jesse smiled his usual aloof grin. "It's always seemed perfect to me."

"Thank you, really," Rachel smiled, blushing, "But something doesn't feel quite right." She turned back towards the front of the stage, mouthing her lines leading into the song and adjusting her body language. Despite not being able to see him she sensed that Jesse had remained on stage.

"Maybe we can go over it together, over dinner?" he offered, clearly trying to keep his voice even and confident.

"Oh really?" she asked hopefully, turning toward him again. "That would be great!"

Jesse exhaled in relief, albeit discretely. "I'll come by your dressing room around 6, then." He nodded and retreated toward the wings before she could say anything else.

Rachel gave him a few paces headstart before she steeled herself and marched toward her own dressing room. After closing the door behind her she pulled her phone out of her purse.

{We're a go. 6.} she typed, taking a deep breath as she hit "send."

Once the message was done she exhaled, fidgeting a minute or so before she realized that there was nothing for her to do besides wait. She found it difficult to sit still and rest, but she did her best to relax quietly until Jesse knocked on her door at 6 p.m. sharp.

"I brought your usual salad," he said as he entered, gesturing to the containers in his hands.

"Thanks. I really appreciate you helping me out," she said as Jesse situated himself on the small couch while she perched in a nearby chair.

"My pleasure," he replied, pouring dressing on his own salad. "It's the least I can do in return for the support and companionship you've shown me since I got here."

Rachel tried not to visibly cringe at his choice of words, since part of the plan involved him feeling comfortable and trusting her.

"Well," she began, opening her own salad, "I think the issue I'm having with the scene is that it shouldn't be so entirely depressing. Obviously it's inherently sad that Wendla feels unprepared for adulthood but singing to her unborn child could also have an undertone of hope that I'd like to draw out."

Jesse nodded in agreement, swallowing his first bite. "This play definitely has the Sondheimian mix of ironic hopefulness amidst overt melancholia, which I've always enjoyed because..."

Rachel smiled, ostensible in appreciation for his thoughts on the matter but also in satisfaction that he was now sufficiently distracted whilst the rest of her plan was put into play.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Finn exhaled forcefully, trying to get out any nervousness before he turned the corner and approached the stage door.

"Finn, buddy!" Bob, the security guard, greeted him warmly with a handshake. "How's it goin'?"

"Not bad," he answered, trying to act natural like Rachel encouraged him.

"Cool, cool. Cast is on dinner break right now so your lady should be in her room. You know the way?"

"Yeah man, I'm good. I'll catch you later?"

"You know where to find me," Bob smirked, motioning to his stool.

Finn laughed as he started down the hallway towards the backstage area. Once he was safely out of Bob's view he tensed up again. The only time he'd been backstage he'd come through the theater from the other side, so he tried to remember the directions Rachel had given him. After hearing a group of voices coming from the open area at the end of the hall he hurriedly began scanning the names on the dressing room doors, stopping in his tracks when he came to one that read "Jesse St. James – Melchior".

To say Finn had mixed feelings about what they were doing was the understatement of the century. Sure he wanted to figure out what Jesse was up to and stop him from interfering with Rachel's career and/or their relationship, but snooping around wasn't really his style. He still harbored the hope that they were just being paranoid and Jesse wasn't really plotting anything at all.

Swallowing hard, Finn knocked firmly on the dressing room door. When there was no answer he turned the knob and entered, gently closing the door behind him and quickly scanning his surroundings.

Rachel had assured him that her co-star practically lived in his dressing room, especially on busy weekends. Sure enough, there were several books and magazines stacked on the floor next to the small couch, a bowl of apples and oranges on an end table, and a laptop perched on a side table.

Finn crossed the small space in two strides and turned the laptop towards him. Since it appeared to already be on he swiped his finger along the trackpad to wake the machine from sleep mode. Once the screen sprung to life he looked at the desktop and maximized the only available e-mail program.

He clicked through a few messages until he reached one from a name that seemed familiar but he couldn't quite place.

His eyes went wide as he began reading through a long chain of e-mails and scribbling down some notes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 

Jesse was in the midst of a rant about the elements of screen acting that he'd been trying to apply to his stage presence when a knock sounded on Rachel's dressing room door. His brow knitted in frustration at the interruption.

"Come in?" Rachel called, feigning curiosity at who was on the other side.

The door swung open and Finn took a hesitant step inside. "Surprise!" he exclaimed.

"Finn!" Rachel jumped out of her seat. "I thought you weren't coming by 'til after tonight's show!" She took a few steps towards the door and embraced him soundly.

"I wanted to surprise you," he said sweetly before planting a kiss on top of her head. When she released him from the hug he turned to her other guest, who appeared to be discretely gritting his teeth. "Jesse, dude, what's up?" he asked warmly. "How're you feeling after yesterday?"

"Hello, Finn," he answered curtly. "I'm quite well, thank you."

"Ooh, aren't his massages just the _best_?" Rachel asked, rhetorically of course, patting Jesse on the arm for emphasis.

"It would seem so," Jesse sighed, looking at his watch and standing. "If you'll both excuse me, it's about time I retire to my own dressing room to prepare for curtain."

The couple looked on as he deposited his trash in the nearby wastebasket and headed for the door.

"Finn, good running into you. Rachel, I'll see you shortly."

"Bye, Jesse."

"Break a leg, man!"

Jesse exited and closed the door behind him. A moment later, Rachel tiptoed back towards it and looked through the peephole, wary of anyone who might be lingering outside.

When the coast was clear, she abruptly spun around to face Finn again.

"How did it go?! Tell me everything. Were you careful to cover your tracks and leave his room the way you found it? Is Jesse in the CIA? Is that even his real name? Is this room bugged?!" She began looking frantically around the small room. Her half-whisper had grown louder and more panicked as she voiced each (admittedly paranoid) question that flashed across her mind.

"Rach, _chill_," Finn insisted, grasping her small shoulders and gently encouraging her to sit down while he did the same. "His laptop was on, so I was able to look through some e-mails and figure out what's going on. And I made sure not to leave any evidence behind."

Rachel exhaled, preparing herself for whatever Finn was about to tell her. "E-mails from who?"

"Most of them were from someone named Bryan Ryan, who seems to be Jesse's agent." He paused, pensively, before adding, "Has Jesse said anything about what he was doing before he got the role in Spring Awakening?"

Rachel shrugged, trying to remember. "He's alluded to the fact that none of his pilots have been picked up, which made him want to come back here and give theater acting another try."

"Well, these e-mails tell a slightly different story." Finn took a scribbled-on piece of paper out of his coat pocket and glanced at it while he continued. "About a year ago, one of Jesse's pilots _was_ picked up by a cable network for a short season of episodes. He started off with one of the main supporting roles, but it turned out another supporting actor had a romantic history with the lead actress. Once they started filming, the chemistry between those two was off the charts, so they decided to revamp the entire show and reduce Jesse to a really minor part."

"That couldn't have gone over well," Rachel scoffed.

"Not at all. Thinking the producers liked Jesse enough, Bryan Ryan gave them an all-or-nothing pitch – either the original deal would stick or Jesse would walk. They called his bluff and Jesse was out."

"Ugh, it sounds like his agent is as stuck-up and pompous as he is!" Her blood boiled as she imagined Jesse's arrogant handling of the situation.

"I guess," Finn agreed. "Anyway, after that happened it basically ruined Jesse's reputation in Hollywood and he couldn't get another audition, so Bryan called in a favor through a Broadway contact and he wound up here."

"And now he's trying to be the catalyst to cast-romance drama instead of the victim of it," she added, sighing.

"Exactly. He knew you'd likely be cast opposite him, so at first his plan was to date you again in order to drum up attention for the show."

Rachel was starting to put the rest of the pieces together. "And when they found out that you're in the picture, they decided to dig up some dirty laundry?"

"Yep. They contacted Jacob Ben Israel, who was a year behind me in high school and always perpetuating Lima town gossip on his blog," he explained, rolling his eyes. "Jesse has several e-mails from him, laying out the sordid details of my breakup with Quinn."

"So that's who his 'source' is," Rachel grumbled. "But what _now_? Their attempts to get you jealous and break us up haven't worked. The show is doing well and the critics are warming to Jesse's performance... though I can't imagine they're going to drop this whole thing."

Finn sighed. "They're working on a deal with Sebastian Smythe, a Page Six reporter, who's going to run a short piece about you and Jesse. Jacob will act as an anonymous source on me and my 'history of abusive relationships.' There will also be a quote from 'someone close to' Jesse explaining that he's worried about me hurting you and 'may have designs on romancing his former flame again'."

Rachel groaned, flopping against Finn's shoulder in frustration. He slid his arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her in the wake of all the information he'd uncovered.

She allowed herself a minute to absorb the information before sitting up again and taking a deep breath. She had a show in less than an hour and would not allow Jesse's scheming to distract her. Nonetheless, the situation required that they act quickly before Jesse's plan could progress any further.

"So, uh, what do we do now?" Finn asked quietly. More than anything she hated that he had unwittingly been dragged into all of this nonsense.

"The one thing I'd been hoping like hell to avoid." She reached for her phone and winced as she dialed her agent's number.

Finn looked on curiously while she waited for an answer on the other end.

"Gertrude? Yes, I'm fine, but, er... can you meet me for a drink after my show tonight? There's something we need to discuss right away."

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_Stay tuned, folks. :)_


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello friends. I sat on this update for a while before it really came together so I thank you for bearing with me and continuing to remain interested in this story. Thanks also to Emily for looking it over and making sure that my ideas weren't too crazy.**

**See prior chapters for disclaimers.**

* * *

><p>"Why didn't you just tell me?!"<p>

Finn had to stifle a laugh when Rachel's agent threw her own words right back in her face.

"Gertrude, I – "

"You what, dearie?" the older woman asked, clearly facetiously. She'd met them at a bar as per Rachel's request, and had just listened to her client's tale of impending disaster. "You thought you could handle this situation all on your own, with a little help from Rico Suave over here?" She nodded in his direction and took a long drink from her highball glass.

"Gertrude, _please_. Finn is affected by this situation too, and his involvement was the only way I could think of to figure out what Jesse has up his sleeve!"

"I know, I know," she assured after swallowing the generous gulp of martini. "I'm simply trying to process this news and determine the most proactive and effective course of action in response."

Still hoping for a hands-off, wait-and-see approach to the problem, Finn didn't like the sounds of that. "Wouldn't it be better to wait and see if, or when, they actually get this story out, and do some damage control afterward?"

Gertude toyed with her toothpick of olives. "Ordinarily, I'd agree. But I've heard only the worst things about this Bryan Ryan. If this scheme is in the works, he's going through with it – or with something even more sinister."

"What if we confront Jesse about all of this ASAP? Maybe we can nip this in the bud and prevent Sebastian from running the story at all!"

Finn took Rachel's hand, trying to be supportive of her take-charge attitude even though he knew how Gertrude was likely to respond.

"What are you going to say? 'So, Jesse, I overheard you having a phone conversation and my boyfriend snooped through your e-mails and I _command_ you to cease and desist your impending PR scheme!'" The agent indulged in an imitation of Rachel before returning to her normal voice. "The only way that would work is if you have hard evidence. Which you don't," she said pointedly.

Rachel groaned, sinking down in her seat and chewing her straw.

Suddenly, Finn remembered an important detail, but it wasn't something he particularly wanted to share. He nervously picked at the label on his beer bottle amidst the silence.

"What's wrong, Cassanova?" Gertrude asked, motioning towards his fidgeting hands.

Finn sighed and sat back in his chair. "We can get hard evidence," he said reluctantly.

With that statement the Broadway agent raised her eyebrows, urging him on.

"One of the e-mails talked about a meeting on Monday to discuss the details of the article."

"Mmmm," Gertrude nodded, taking another drink. "If we could send a little birdie to listen in on their conversation, maybe take a discreet photo..."

"Then we can go to Jesse and tell him that the jig is _up_," Finn said heartily.

"Precisely." Gertrude's eyes twinkled with intrigue until she caught Rachel's sullen expression. "What's wrong, darling?

"I just don't feel right about resorting to blackmail to deal with this predicament," she said softly.

"It's not blackmail, dearie. It would be blackmail if we threatened to expose the shenanigans surrounding Jesse's failed TV career. We're merely trying to prevent him from dragging your relationship through the mud for the sake of inflating his reputation," Gertrude explained as if it were the most obvious concept in the world. "See the difference?"

Rachel exhaled, sending her bangs aflutter on her forehead. "I guess." She studied her empty glass for a moment. "But who could we send to take the picture?"

A mischievous smirk appeared on Finn's face. "I know _exactly _who we can send."

* * *

><p>"I'll do it."<p>

Rachel exhaled, relieved that her roommate had so willingly agreed to participate in their efforts to thwart Jesse's plan.

"Obviously I can't put my law career in jeopardy by doing anything blatantly sketchy," Santana explained, "but I've always wanted to go on a stealth eavesdropping mission with a voice recorder taped to my underboob or something. So just tell me when and where."

Two evenings later, Rachel and Finn sat in her apartment again, anxiously awaiting Santana's return from her mission.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door to the apartment finally swung open as Santana burst in.

"Diva, you are _not_ going to believe this," she drawled, shedding her coat and hanging it before sitting on an armchair across from the couple on the couch. "I'll just start from the beginning, okay?"

_Santana went to the bar mentioned in Jesse's e-mail, arriving a few minutes before their scheduled meeting time. The place was dotted with patrons but still relatively empty. She situated herself on a stool such that the only four seats together were immediately to her right, towards the back of the establishment. This would force Jesse and his co-conspirators to sit near her if they opted for the bar, and also put her within listening distance of the few unoccupied booths along the opposite wall. Since she wasn't sure about the efficiency of the voice recorder taped to her chest, she quickly came up with a plan to ensure that they sat at the bar._

_She gazed casually at the door when it next opened, taking note of the beady eyes and mop of frizzy brown hair and determining the scrawny man to be one of those she was looking for. The hair wasn't as much of a mess as Finn had prepared her for, but the rest of the description matched. He really looked just like someone who would run a small-town gossip blog._

"Jacob Ben Israel got there first, so I had an opportunity to disarm him."

_As he approached the bar, Santana made sure to catch Jacob's eye and give him a flirty smile._

"_Hello there," he said, looking her up and down as he sat on the stool immediately to her left. "What brings a sizzling vixen like you to a place like this?" _

"_Just killing a little time between two appointments," she explained with a sigh, fairly sure that the vague statement would only entice him further. "What about a charming fellow like yourself?"_

"_I have a business meeting here shortly," Jacob explained, puffing his chest out as if it made him seem more desirable. _

"_Is that so?" Santana asked daintily, acting as though she was impressed by his affairs. _

"_Well yes... but it shouldn't take that long, so if you're still here..."_

"At that point, another guy walked in. I thought he might be the reporter, but I wasn't sure until he came up to us."

"_Jacob?" the lanky man with wavy brown hair asked with a raised eyebrow. "Sebastian." He gave Santana a forced smile before looking around impatiently and motioning to Jacob that they should move down the bar where there were more seats._

"_I'm sorry, my sweet, it appears that I need to step away. We'll talk again after my colleague has departed?"_

"_It would be my pleasure," she answered, smiling again. _

_Sebastian looked on, perplexed, while Jacob giggled salaciously in response. Once they'd both turned away, Santana rolled her eyes. Then she went back to playing with her phone, keeping an ear trained on the reporter and his informant._

"By the time they sat down, a smirky blonde dude rolled in."

"Bryan Ryan?" Finn asked.

Santana nodded before continuing her tale.

"_Smythe, good to see you again." Bryan and Sebastian exchanged a somewhat reserved handshake before the talent agent turned to the third man. "And you must be Jacob. Good to meet in person, finally."_

_Jacob muttered a similar sentiment before Bryan suggested they get started._

"_You don't want to wait for Jesse?" Sebastian inquired curiously. _

_Bryan Ryan scoffed before looking around to see if anyone was listening. "__**My client**__ isn't coming," he said quietly. "You think I'd expose him to this sort of exchange? Yeah, right."_

"What?! Jesse wasn't even there?" Rachel was livid to learn of the wrinkle.

"Nope," Santana confirmed. "Which is actually really smart from a liability perspective because—"

"Whatever, Santana," Finn cut her off. "What happened next?"

_Santana's heart started to pound at the revelation that Jesse wouldn't be there. Her main objective was to catch him participating in this scandalous meeting and photograph the scene. Why hadn't they thought of this before?_

_More importantly, his absence meant that there was now an empty seat between herself and the three men. What if the tape recorder didn't pick up their conversation from that distance? What if someone else came and sat down between them before she could take the picture?_

_Keeping her cool, she decided to go through with the plan. First, she made sure to maintain her disinterested appearance while orienting her body towards them so that she had the best possible chance of recording their conversation. Then, as discretely as possible, she snapped a few pictures of the meeting. She got one shot in while Bryan and Sebastian made small talk about recent gossip circulating the New York Health and Racquet Club. Then, she was able to capture Bryan Ryan presenting Jacob with an unmarked envelope. He patted it, reminding Sebastian that "according to the terms of our agreement, you get yours when the story runs."_

"So at least you got a picture of **something**," Rachel said with reluctant approval, relaxing and sitting back in her seat on the couch. "And hopefully the recorder picked up their conversation."

"Ohhh, we'll get to that," Santana said with a wink.

"_Well, you gentlemen don't really need me for this next part, so I'll leave you to it." With that Bryan stood and bid the other men goodbye. On his way out, he eyed Santana from head to toe and winked at her._

_Once he was gone, Sebastian set out a tape recorder of his own, and Jacob started talking about Finn's past. The reporter took down a few notes on a legal pad, occasionally interjecting to ask a clarifying question. But for the most part he just sat quietly drinking his gin and tonic and letting Jacob talk. _

"_All right," Sebastian said once they were done, turning the tape recorder off. "I'll type all of this up tomorrow and show it to my editor. She wants to run the story next weekend. If we need to go over anything I'll contact you later in the week, but I think I have what I need."_

"_All in a day's work for us journalists," Jacob said wistfully._

_Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "You're a writer as well?"_

"_Of course! I run BroadwayStarlets-dot-com. I moved to New York to start it when Vanessa Hudgens made her Broadway debut in _Chicago_, and it took off," he explained. "Rachel Berry recently caught my eye, and I tried to approach her after a Spring Awakening performance. Before I could, Jesse approached me and asked if I knew anything about her or her boyfriend. It's just a coincidence that Hudson and I are from the same town." Then he got a dreamy look in his eyes. "Now, when all of this is over, I'll be the one to sweep the angelic songstress off her feet."_

In the face of this new information, Rachel stared at Santana with a gaping mouth while Finn blew out a disbelieving breath and rubbed his temples.

"Ughh, what am I going to do?!" Rachel groaned. "It's not enough that all of this is going on, I have to deal with a creepy stalker as well?!"

"Yeah, but Berry—" Santana attempted to cut her off.

"... I'm flattered by the admiration, of course, but it's troubling to know that someone who's never met me thinks that—"

"Rachel!" Santana shouted, finally interrupting her. "I'm not **done**."

"Oh..." Rachel said, exhaling. "Go on."

"Thank you. Something didn't seem quite right. Smythe was just too aloof during his conversation with Ben Israel. Almost disinterested in the subject matter, even..."

_After hearing about Jacob's ulterior motive, Sebastian merely rolled his eyes and continued packing up his belongings. "Yeah, good luck with that."_

"At that point I realized that he was going to hightail it out of there, and that if I didn't act fast I'd be stuck talking to the creepy blogger guy."

_Santana discretely slid off of her stool and scrambled to put her coat on, making off for the front door as fast as she could without drawing undue attention to herself. _

_Luckily it had gotten dark enough out that she was able to lurk in the shadows until a tall well-coifed figure emerged from the bar. _

_She carefully followed a few paces behind him, taking a glance behind her to make sure no one else was around. Once he crossed the street, she took the opportunity to approach._

"_Hey!" she shouted, gaining his attention and walking as fast as possible in her heels until she caught up to his long stride. _

"_Um, can I help you?"_

"_Err, yes," Santana stammered, having not actually thought through the rest of her plan. "I was just in the bar and overheard your little interview, and I just wanted to say that what you're doing is deplorable. Freedom of the press aside, it's a violation of privacy to publicize the details of an unsuspecting person's past so that someone else can advance—"_

"_Heyy, all right, take it easy." Sebastian looked around nervously as he encouraged her to keep her voice down. "Come with me."_

_With that he led her around the corner, where they were able to walk through a busy pedestrian square._

"Obviously he wanted somewhere crowded where we could blend in without necessarily being overheard."

"_I don't care about Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson. Or Jesse St. James, for that matter," the reporter explained as they milled about the crowd. "I knew from the moment Bryan approached me about writing the story that no one would actually read it. But I mentioned to my editor that he and I go to the same gym, and she perked up, so I told her about his proposal. Apparently she'd heard from some Hollywood contacts about his cutthroat representation practices. She wants to do an expose about all that... instead of this lame hyperbolized melodrama that he thinks is so important."_

_Santana wrinkled her brow. "So this meeting today was just a rouse?" _

_Sebastian nodded slowly. "We needed to keep up appearances to keep Bryan on the hook. Other than that, this entire exercise of talking to that weirdo blogger was a colossal waste of my time."_

_At that comment Santana snickered. "Then why are you still talking to me? Come to think of it, why are you telling me __**any**__ of this?" _

_A devious smirk appeared on Sebastian's face. "Because you took a picture of our meeting at the bar."_

_Her face went stiff as she tried to formulate a believable retort of denial._

"_You thought you were being discreet, and I don't think Ryan or Ben Israel saw," Sebastian continued before she could respond. "But **I** did. And my editor will be __**very**__ grateful if I can get it and use it for our article." Sebastian stopped in his tracks and turned toward her. "What do you want for it?"_

"What did you say?!" Rachel exclaimed, her enthusiastic curiosity practically propelling her small body off the sofa.

Santana scoffed as though she was deeply offended. "I told him that I can't be bought that easily, and I'd have to think about it." She smiled snidely, clearly proud of her ability to manipulate the situation. "Oh, and don't forget that I still had the voice recorder going, so I probably got a lot of our conversation on tape as well," she added, emphasizing the leverage they now had with respect to Sebastian.

Finn knitted his brow. "He didn't ask why you took the picture? Or what you were doing there in the first place?"

The law student shrugged. "Nope. He's so wrapped up in his own shit I don't think he really cares. But he gave me his card so that I can contact him about exchanging the photos for something else." She turned to her roommate. "So, Diva. What'll it be?"

Rachel sank back into the couch, completely overwhelmed as she contemplated the question.

* * *

><p><strong>Gasp! What will Rachel decide to do?! <strong>**Stay tuned!**

**Also I experimented with this telling-a-story-in-flashback style for the first time so I'd love to know what you thought of that, along with any other comments yadda yadda yadda. :D**


	13. Chapter 13

_**I hope you're all as excited to read this thing as I was to finally write it and get it posted. Originally I was thinking that this would be the last chapter, but my ideas kind of ran away with me so there will be at least one more chapter before the epilogue. **_

_**Thanks to Emily for looking this over and assuring me that it turned out all right. **_

_**This installment contains a small bit of gratuitous M-rated content. See prior chapters for intellectual property disclaimers.**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"What do I want in exchange for the picture?" Rachel repeated. "I want him to not run the story!"

"Diva, didn't you hear me?" Santana told her. "The story won't have anything to do with you and Finn! His editor is only interested in what a scumbag Bryan Ryan is."

"_**But**_ by extension that will include Jesse, and whatever they say about him could reflect negatively on the show! The only way to stop all of this from happening is to get him to not run the story at all." Rachel felt her blood pressure rising while she contemplated the reality of the unfolding situation.

"I wish that was an option, but it's not. This whole negotiation is predicated on the story running—"

"Ugh, it's doomed!" she moaned, falling back onto the couch cushions.

"Rachel," Finn said calmly, grasping her shoulders so that she sat up and looked at him. "Sometimes you just need to let go and... let fate take over. Let the universe do its thing. Whatever will be will be, and all that stuff."

Rachel sighed, looking off to the side and sinking back into her seat. "You put an awful lot of stock in 'fate'," she said absently.

"Well yeah." He couldn't help but smile. "Fate brought you to me, right?"

Rachel looked up at him again, a matching grin spreading across her face as well. "You are too sweet." With that she leaned forward to kiss him softly.

"Gross," Santana said, slipping off her heels and standing from the armchair. "While you two are busy being disgustingly in love, I'm going to e-mail Smythe and tell him that he's only getting the photo if he promises minimal exposure for Jesse, Spring Awakening, etc."

"Santana that's perfect!" Rachel exclaimed, suddenly jubilant about the situation.

The law student rolled her eyes. "Well, _someone_ has to come up with a plan since you two are preoccupied with making googly eyes at each other."

Finn didn't share his girlfriend's enthusiasm, and a moment later she caught sight of his frown.

"What?" she asked cautiously.

"I just thought of something else," Finn sighed. "What about Ben Israel? Based on what you overheard... he's a pretty big wild card. I don't like the idea of leaving that to chance."

"Mmm, I don't know, he seemed harmless enough." Santana scrolled through something on her phone without looking up. "I'm on his website now and it's all fairly tame," she observed.

"Still," Finn went on, sternly. "One of the conditions should be that Smythe let's us know if the weirdo is up to something."

"All right, all right," Santana agreed, rolling her eyes slightly at what she'd come to call Finn's "protective boyfriend voice." "I'll e-mail him now."

Rachel bit her lip, falling back onto the couch cushions yet again and willing herself to relax.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

{ Sebastian just wrote back. We have a deal. }

Rachel quickly deleted the text message from Santana and slipped her phone back into her bag before heading into the theater on Tuesday afternoon.

It was strange, knowing that Jesse was up to something without _him_ knowing that she knew.

The bigger issue was that she knew the something he was up to wasn't going to work out the way he wanted.

She was fine interacting with her colleague and pretending that nothing out of the ordinary was going on; what kind of actress would she be if she couldn't? And when they were on stage, she was even more secure – in her element, doing what she loved, and controlling her own destiny as far as providing quality performances to overcome any negative publicity that might befall her or the show.

But when she was left alone with her thoughts she found herself worrying about whether Sebastian would actually come through or what other unforeseen consequence might develop from the present circumstances.

She knew of only one surefire distraction from the anxiety.

"Oh my God Rach I love you so much," Finn panted out later that night, gripping her thighs and encouraging her to move faster on top of him. Her eyes were closed as she rotated in a slow circle, blocking out all thoughts of the outside world while she tried to make it last for both of them.

Unfortunately, Finn was having none of the slow buildup. Angling his hips, he started thrusting upwards to match her movements. She gave in and rode him frantically, eyes closing and fingers digging into his sides.

"Nnnnph, _Finn_!" she moaned, her hips involuntarily quaking as her whole body stiffened and her walls tightened around him, throbbing while he continued moving to guide her through completion.

After a minute his release followed, and she moved slowly until he was totally soft and slipped out of her.

Catching her breath, she stretched out next to him and tried to focus on the featherlight kisses he placed on her neck and shoulders, but wasn't able to contain her apprehensive sigh.

"Stop worrying," he insisted quietly, a hint of lament in his tone.

"Wish I could," she shot back, her gaze focused on the taupe ceiling of her bedroom.

Finn gently turned her head so he was in her line of vision. Staring into his warm brown eyes made her feel a little better.

"It's going to be fine, you'll see." He kissed her lips before folding his long arms around her and encouraging her to go to sleep.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Slowly but surely the week passed, and with the weekend came the fateful moment of truth.

Rachel checked the Post's website on Saturday morning when she got to the theater. Sure enough, Sebastian Smythe's article in the entertainment section concerned only the questionable tactics of Hollywood agent Bryan Ryan, complete with Santana's photo capturing the exchange of funds at the bar. The only reference to Broadway, however, was that Ryan has been courting New York stage actors in an attempt to expand his sphere of client representation.

She allowed the relief to wash over her for a moment before sending a quick text to Santana and Finn and heading out to the makeup area.

As she made her way down the hall, Jesse burst from his dressing room, newspaper in hand.

"Stupid, waste-of-my-time rag..." he muttered before angrily tossing it into a trash can, his hands balled into tense fists.

"Jesse? Something wrong?" Rachel asked gently, feigning ignorance as to the source of his ire.

"What? Oh, hi Rachel." She could tell that he was trying to suppress his agitated expression, the redness beginning to drain away from his face as his brow uncreased. "Just a somewhat unflattering article about my agent," he explained, gesturing to the discarded newspaper.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Her insides tensed at having to 'act' in response to this issue.

"Yeah, but don't worry, it didn't mention me or the show, specifically," Jesse went on. She imagined that he was trying to sound reassuring but it fell a bit flat.

"That is certainly a positive for all of us!" she replied cheerfully, hoping simply to bring an end to the discussion. "You ready to put on two great shows today, negative publicity be damned?"

Jesse cleared his throat. "Yes, of course," he answered seriously.

Despite this assurance, the shows that day weren't among Jesse's best performances, but Rachel was too relieved to worry all that much about it. She spent the break between shows happily enthralled in the new Nicholas Sparks novel that she'd previously been too distracted to enjoy. After their second show she bounded home as quickly as she could, ready to share in her relief with her boyfriend and roommate.

Unfortunately, as she climbed the stairs to her apartment, she could already hear those two people arguing on the other side of the door.

"I knew this wasn't over! And I told you that weirdo was going to be a problem!" Finn was shouting as the turned her key in the lock. "We should have—"

"Should have _what_? What more could we do than keep Smythe on the hook so he could tell us what was up. At least now we _know_ what's going on and can mitigate the circumstances accordingly!" Then the law student noticed her roommate standing in the doorway. "Oh. She's here."

"Rach. Hey." Finn's voice was tight, in stark contrast to its usual warmth. He sat down on the armchair putting his head in his hands and sighing.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Rachel managed to shed her coat and place it on the rack while waiting for an explanation.

Santana let out a huff and looked off to the side for a moment before returning her eyes to Rachel. "We have a bit of a problem."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Finn sat quietly while Santana explained their new predicament to Rachel, the two girls sitting on the couch to his left.

"Smythe e-mailed me again, just a little while ago. He said that Bryan Ryan was obviously pissed about the article. Meanwhile Jesse is still gung-ho about this story on you and Finn getting out and is pressing Ben Israel to run it on his website."

Rachel nodded, surprisingly calm. "Do we have any idea whether Jacob will _actually_ post the story?"

"It seems likely. Supposedly Ben Israel e-mailed Smythe to verify that the Post is out of the picture and make sure that he's free to publish his own intel about Finn," Santana answered. "Jesse's probably diverting the bribe money they were going to give Smythe to Ben Israel instead. I can't imagine he makes a lot of money off of his blog, so why wouldn't he take it?"

"Especially since he thinks that talking about my past will get you to break up with me," Finn chimed in bitterly.

Then he noticed that Rachel was starting to smile.

"What?" he asked her, trying to hide his complete astonishment at her reaction.

"I know _exactly_ what we need to do."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The following night, Finn and Rachel met Gertrude for drinks again.

He watched, biting his lip as the older woman stirred her drink in contemplation and Rachel looked on, apprehensive about how her agent would respond to her proposed plan.

A sly smile slowly appeared on the agent's face. "I like it," she said, looking up.

Rachel beamed. "I knew you would!" she said excitedly.

Finn took a sip of his beer, trying not look too dejected.

"Something tells me your gentleman friend doesn't share my opinion," Gertrude remarked, an eye glancing in his direction.

He shrugged. "Why wouldn't l? My girlfriend, willingly giving an interview to a creepy blogger guy who's using someone else's scheme to try to break us up - sounds like a great idea to me."

Gertrude wasn't amused by his sarcasm. "It's called controlling the story, young man," she said sternly.

"That's what I've been saying all along," Rachel said gently. "This way we can turn a possible embarrassment into a PR success, thank you very much!" Rachel cheerfully raised her glass and downed the rest of her white wine.

The gesture was so adorable it almost made Finn forget about everything.

"She's right," Gertrude said, bringing him back to reality. "It's the surest way to ensure that this blogger has something else to write about. If Bryan Ryan is content on being a bully, he'll do what all bullies do when their target stands up to them: go away."

"So it's settled then," Rachel began, happily. "I'll grant Jacob an exclusive interview, during which I'll explain how I love my role as Wendla and enjoy working with Jesse despite our rocky past. If he broaches the subject of my personal life I'll say that I don't want to discuss it at length but that I'm seeing someone not involved in theater and that we're very happy."

"Right, but what if it backfires? What if you give this interview and he still follows through on Bryan Ryan's directive to mention me?"

"Then it gets buried underneath a mound of positive information," Gertrude answered confidently. "If the blogger is as interested in Rachel it sounds, he'll surely have numerous questions about her prior roles and education. So long as she goes into detail answering those, it's unlikely that he'll subordinate that substance to some gossip at the behest of a meddling agent and C-rate actor. And, just to be safe, I'm sure she'll lay on a bit of the charm with this fellow so as to limit the chance that he mentions anything personal at all."

Rachel merely nodded in agreement, an exaggeratedly sweet smile plastered on her face.

"Oh, you're going to charm him, huh? Well what if he goes completely psycho and won't leave you alone?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, if only I had a tall, strapping boyfriend who could tell him to leave me alone instead of merely whining like a child about my attempts to mitigate circumstances beyond our control!"

At that Finn slumped back in his seat, drinking his beer and not looking at Rachel or Gertrude as they went back to discussing the details of the plan.

"I just want you to understand why I'm doing it," Rachel said with a hint of exasperation as she pulled back the covers and joined him in bed a few hours later.

During the cab ride back to his apartment, she'd kept trying to explain her reasoning while he kept telling her he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Eventually his silence would speak for itself, he figured.

"Perhaps there's some _special_ way I can convince you...?" She let her voice trail off as her hand crept down Finn's stomach and under the waistband of his boxers.

"Rach, you don't need to do that," he remarked solemnly, squeezing her more tightly to his side.

"Hmm?" She feigned innocence as her delicate fingers danced along his inner thigh.

He reached down and gently pulled her arm out of his shorts. "Win me over with sex."

She tensed for a moment before stroking his stomach, drawing some sort of circular pattern against his bare skin. "I feel bad when we disagree."

He turned on his side to face her. "But wouldn't it be weird if we agreed all the time?" he asked, brushing her hair behind her shoulder. "If I suddenly started eating seared tofu twice a week and you decided that Braveheart was your favorite movie?"

Rachel laughed, the infectious sound filling his bedroom until her face grew serious again. "I'm sorry for what I said before, about you being a child."

"I'm sorry too. And I do understand," Finn assured her. "I'm trying not to be jealous or overprotective. I just wish there was some other way to deal with this. That guy was a pretty severe weirdo in high school, and it sounds like he's gotten even more creepy since then," he went on, adding a shudder for effect. "I mean, I'll deal with him if I need to, but I hope it doesn't come to that."

"Your protectiveness is very sweet," she said with an affectionate smile before lightly pecking his lips. "I wish there was some other way to deal with this, too, but... Remember when you told me things would be fine? I think I'm starting to believe it."

He pulled Rachel against him, hoping to everything holy that he was right.

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_**Thanks for reading! Please review!**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Howdy folks. I really intended to get this chapter done and posted much sooner than this, but as I'm sure everyone can understand the last month or so threw me for a bit of a loop and made writing a little more difficult than normal. That said, once I started back up it proved to be a pretty good coping mechanism. I can also think of no better way to honor Cory's life and work than to keep writing Finchel fics, so that's my plan for now. **

**Thanks to everyone who's still interested in this story despite its slow progress, and especially to Leo (wood-u-like-2-no) and Effy for reviewing and offering edits/eternal wisdom and assuring me that this is headed in a worthwhile direction. **

**Same disclaimers as usual.**

* * *

><p>"Hi Bob!" Rachel said the following morning when she arrived at the theater prior to the Wednesday matinee show.<p>

"Hey there Miss B," the friendly security guard replied, barely looking up from his newspaper. Once he noticed Rachel lingering by his stool instead of passing through like he usually did, he put the paper down. "What can I do for ya?"

Rachel looked around to make sure no one would overhear her. "Is there a blogger who hangs around here sometimes?" she asked casually.

Bob wrinkled his brow. "Bushy hair and glasses? Named Jacob? Eager to get 'just a moment of the angelic Rachel Berry's time'?"

She nodded, eyes perking up at the confirmatory description.

"Mmm, no, never heard of him," Bob deadpanned, shaking his head.

Rachel rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Bob!"

The man chuckled. "Yeah, I know who you mean. He's here at least twice a week."

She grinned, biting her lip mischievously.

Bob raised an eyebrow. "Why? Is today his lucky day?" He laughed heartily this time. "I won't even ask. What do you need me to do?"

Rachel instructed the friendly security guard to look for Jacob after the matinee show and inform him that she would be available for an interview the following day at 3 PM. On her way out of the theater that night he confirmed that it had been arranged.

"Did he seem suspicious about getting an interview all of the sudden?" she asked, trying not to seem too anxious.

"Not at all," Bob assured her. "He got all starry-eyed and said something about how he'd always dreamed of the day when his years of patient dedication would pay off."

Rachel winced, then tried to do away with the moment of weakness by adding a flippant eye-roll. "Well, thanks for your help. See you tomorrow!"

She steeled herself as she headed out of the theater towards the subway, reminding herself that she was doing this to be proactive and take control of the situation. Surviving an interview with Jacob Ben Israel was a small price to pay for putting the ordeal behind her once and for all.

Or so she hoped.

She arrived at her dressing room a few minutes before he was scheduled to meet her there, giving herself time to mentally prepare. At precisely 3 PM, there was a knock on the door. She took a deep cleansing breath before approaching and answering the knock.

The man in front of her matched the description Finn always used and the photos Santana had taken; but in person his eyes were even more beady and his hair that much more unkempt-looking.

"Hello! You must be Jacob." She made sure to display a bright and inviting smile.

"I am. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance _mon cherie_," he answered, his attempt to sound suave failing miserably given his horrendous French pronunciation.

Meanwhile his expression was akin to that of a child in a candy store trying to suppress his overwhelming excitement.

"Please, come in," she offered, stepping back and closing the door behind him while he looked around.

Sitting on the small sofa, Rachel gestured for Jacob to take the armchair across from it. After settling in, he set up his voice recorder on the coffee table in between them.

"Testing 1 2, testing 1 2," Jacob said in the direction of the microphone, his voice serious and self-important as though he was attempting to launch a space shuttle.

Despite her urge to laugh, Rachel remained stoic while he played the test back before resuming recording.

"So, Rachel," he began, glancing briefly at the notepad perched on his lap, "I'm so happy to be visiting you here in your _private_ dressing room prior to tonight's performance of Spring Awakening. How's the run going so far?"

"Thank you, I'm glad you could join me. Spring Awakening has been excellent from day one and I'm so appreciative of this opportunity."

"You certainly earned the role of Wendla after your _spectacular_ performance as Anita in West Side Story." After very obviously laying it on thick with the compliment, he paused. "Now, without prying too much, I'd like to address some rumors around the Great White Way that you and your co-star Jesse St. James have a bit of an _intimate _relationship off-stage as well." There was a hint of salacious undertone to his remark as he tried to bait her with the piece of gossip.

"I'm not sure what the rumors entail, exactly, but Jesse and I do go back many years," she said calmly. "We went to the same high school and dated until college." Thankfully, after their break-up so many years ago she rehearsed this simplistic, canned response in front of her bathroom mirror, just in case the situation ever needed to be addressed.

"So, when you found out he would be starring opposite you in Spring Awakening, were you surprised? Shocked? _Dismayed?_" Jacob asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rachel offered a light chuckle in response. "I was mostly surprised because the last I'd heard from him he was in Hollywood pursuing roles in movies and TV. But once I learned that he would be playing Melchior I was happy to have him as a colleague. We've established a wonderful working relationship." She maintained her confident smile while answering, attempting to diffuse the situation with her body language as well as her words.

"There's one very intimate scene at the end of the first act. Is that awkward at all? Difficult to remain strictly professional?" Her interviewer continued to try to egg her on with rapid-fire compound questions, his eyebrows still raised with intrigue.

"After performing that scene day-in and day-out it becomes routine and almost... mechanical. So it's not hard to keep things professional," she answered matter-of-factly. "Jesse and I realize that it's a powerful scene and work towards conveying the discourse between the characters. It's certainly not an exchange between the two of us as individuals."

"I see," Jacob nodded, glancing down at his pad. "But is there anyone _else_ who might find it unsettling? Say, someone in your _personal _life?"

Rachel was impressed that he managed to find a roundabout way to broach the subject of her relationship. "I am presently dating someone, if that's what you're asking. But he understands that it's part of the job description and not intimate at all." She silently thanked Barbra for the fact that she and Finn had indeed come to such an understanding after his initial trepidation.

Confronted with a dead-end to his desired line of questioning about her personal life, Jacob looked back down at his notepad, then up at Rachel with a nervous grin... and then at his notepad again. She had wondered if he would let on that he knew Finn from high school, but he couldn't very well do so if she didn't mention his name and closed off any further inquiries on the topic.

Clearing his throat, Jacob looked up from his notes, the glint of curiosity in his eyes. "Since this is our first meeting, I'd like to go back to the _very _beginning. What first inspired you to pursue a career on Broadway?"

Pleased that he was changing the subject to a more relevant, innocuous topic, Rachel grinned easily. "Oh, well I was raised by my two dads, who met through their love of musical theater and instilled in me a profound love of performing," she began. At this point she had done a few other interviews asking about her background and could give that information as a canned speech (another one she _might_ have rehearsed in front of the mirror at one time or another), but she always made a point to elaborate off the cuff so that her response came off as genuine. As much as she wanted to give Jacob a bare-minimum interview and get him the hell away from her dressing room, it was in the interest of her mission that she went on in detail about as many positive facts as she could.

Nonetheless, she remained wary that he could deflect the conversation back to more controversial topics at any moment. She was careful to surreptitiously study his expression while she regaled him with tales of her youth. His eye perked up and grin widened at the description of her fathers singing around the piano every night, exposing her to old movie musicals and staged performances of Broadway classics, and eventually encouraging her participation in dance classes, singing competitions, and theatrical productions.

As she spoke, something that could only be described as reluctant delight crossed Jacob's face. "My Nana was the same way, always playing her piano and singing and watching old musicals with me," he said wistfully. "She always wanted me to perform in some way but my asthma and chronic allergies made it difficult for me to sing. Just the idea of being on stage made me so nervous I was prone to hyperventilation."

"Well, it's _wonderful _that you're involved in Broadway, through your blog," she offered with encouragement. "These days the websites promoting the theater community are essential to the popularity of the shows themselves."

Jacob grinned, seemingly elated that his work was getting what he felt to be its due recognition. "I'm also a copywriter for Playbill," he added with a confident cock of his head, clearly trying to impress her further.

"See! I'm sure your Nana would be very proud." Rachel continued with the compliments, figuring it couldn't hurt her cause. "Theater wouldn't function without its technical and production aspects. It's a shame that performers get such a disproportionate amount of attention when _everyone_ works so hard." At the very least, he couldn't write about her being a spoiled, unappreciative diva.

"How humble and complimentary coming from such a _fine_ young ingénue as yourself."

As much as Rachel wasn't thrilled about Jacob fawning over her, he wasn't as overtly creepy as she'd been led to believe. She was getting the sense that he wasn't a bad guy, but simply... misunderstood.

"So, back to you. With your parents' support, you skyrocketed to fame on the local community theater circuit?" he went on. "Snagged all the lead roles in the high school plays before taking off for New York and never looking back?"

"Not exactly," Rachel chuckled at the insinuation that it had all been so easy. "I was fortunate to attend a high school that valued performing arts and allowed me to compete with other talented students for roles and recognition. Going in, I had assumed that I would easily rise to the top, but I had to earn my keep just like everybody else. That included being knocked down a peg or two by upperclassmen who thought I was too ambitious for my own good and not willing to work cooperatively with others."

Jacob nodded in understanding. "Certainly that prepared you for the more competitive collegiate environment, though."

"Oh, Tisch was even more overwhelming since my classmates were mostly East Coast-ers who had exposure to what they considered more 'serious' theater companies." She smirked. "I'm sure everyone there assumed I was from some Midwestern cow-town with one traffic light; a few even told me as much. It was another uphill battle of working to prove myself, but dedicating myself to overcoming those challenges has made me who I am today."

"And that hard work has certainly paid off, it seems," Jacob said, genuinely, before asking about her first audition experiences and early roles. Discussing those trials and helped to put her prior answers into context with her current position.

"So, now that you've graduated from major-supporting role to leading lady, many observers predict that the sky is the limit for Rachel Berry. What do you hope to achieve as your career continues?" Jacob asked eagerly.

"I'm very much enjoying my role as Wendla and the attention that the show has received. If and when they come along down the road, I'd definitely like to tackle whatever challenging projects I can get involved in and achieve the ultimate dream of winning a Tony."

She paused momentarily, before continuing as if on auto-pilot.

"It would be extremely gratifying to prove the adage that 'it's not where you start, it's where you finish,' but I don't necessarily expect things to be easy from here on out. It's an unfortunate reality that in this business people try to elevate their own status or gratify their own egos by bringing others down, stringing someone along for as long as their selfish purposes demand it. The only way to get through it is to stay true to yourself and remember that you're better than anyone attempting to use such shortcuts to get ahead."

Thankfully she was able to keep her narrative generic, even though she had one particular person in mind. It felt oddly therapeutic to share those thoughts, and she hoped that the honesty had made enough of an impression on Jacob to distract him from the salacious material he was supposed to include in his article.

As much as she didn't necessarily want to end the interview on such a heavy note, a glance at her watch revealed that she needed to excuse herself and start getting ready for the evening's performance.

"We should do this again sometime," Jacob said as she showed him to the door. "Here's my card." He flicked it out towards her with two fingers in a (failed) attempt to be suave.

"Uh, of course," Rachel offered, determined to remain in his good graces. "I'm so glad we could sit down and talk about everything."

"_Au revoir_, _mon cheri_," he said awkwardly as he stepped out into the hallway.

"Bye, Jacob."

She closed the door and exhaled, glad the experience was over with. Taking a quick moment to check her phone, she saw she had a text from Finn.

{Hope the interview is going well. Sure you're doing great. Break a leg tonight.}

Her lips turned up in a smile automatically at seeing his kind words of support, especially considering his initial disagreement with her decision to grant Jacob the interview.

Slipping her phone back into her purse, she stepped out of her dressing room. She was about to make her way down the hall to the cast buffet area for her customary salad when she heard voices coming from Jesse's dressing room.

"What do you _mean_ she granted you an exclusive interview?!" her co-star was saying.

"I, uh, she..." Rachel heard Jacob stammering as she surreptitiously approached the closed door. "The other day the security guard told me that she was sorry for not being available during the other times I asked for an interview and invited me to meet with her today," the reporter said hurriedly, in a tone that indicated he was cowering in fear.

Rachel felt almost paralyzed by her own trepidation. What if her efforts were all for naught now that Jesse had intercepted Jacob? She had assumed that the blogger would escape the theater undetected since at this time her colleague was usually immersed in a secretive pre-performance meditation ritual that he insisted left him "centered" and ready for a show.

She resolved to remain calm and continue listening in on the conversation going on the dressing room.

"Well, okay..." she heard Jesse say, his voice evening out a bit. "So, what did you get out of her? Anything good we can use for the article?"

"Oh, we talked about everything – her inspiration for her career, overcoming initial obstacles, her earlier roles, Spring Awakening..."

"But nothing about her relationship with Hudson? And his raging jealousy about her working with me?"

"No," Jacob began cautiously, "in fact she said that he understands the professional nature of the sex scene and that it isn't intimate or anything."

"Okay, well..." She heard footsteps and imagined that Jesse was pacing back and forth. "You'll have to be vague, but you can still write about his past relationship troubles and the fact that he can be a loose cannon when it comes to—"

"No!" Rachel stiffened, surprised by Jacob's defiance.

"Pardon?!"

"Unlike you, I believe in preserving the integrity in what I do. Rachel gave me a wonderfully comprehensive interview about her background, her initial struggles, and her career aspirations, and _that's_ what I'm going to write about for my site."

"You insipid little twit! You think I don't know that you only agreed to get involved here so you could try to woo Rachel once she was single again? What happened to that part of your plan, huh?"

She craned her head a little closer to the door, eager to hear what Jacob had to say in response.

"Maybe that was my intent at first," he conceded. "But all I've ever wanted out of my website is to interview young Broadway stars and promote their projects. Having talked with Rachel... she doesn't deserve to have her name dragged through the mud and her career jeopardized all at the same time."

"So you're suddenly fine with her being with that oaf Hudson?"

There was a pause, and Rachel held her breath in anticipation.

"We may have had our differences in high school, but I can't change that now," Jacob said firmly. "And it doesn't seem right to exploit my knowledge of his past for my own personal gain, or to help a sleazebag like you."

Rachel was struck by the fact that the reporter had taken her words so closely to heart, as well as his growing confidence as he and Jesse conversed.

"What if I double the money?!" Panic laced Jesse's voice as he obviously felt his plan crumbling before his eyes.

"I was _never_ in it for the money," Jacob scoffed. "And here's an idea: You're lucky you even have the opportunity to work with someone as talented as Rachel Berry. Maybe you should take advantage of that and try to improve your performance legitimately, instead of creating a scandal out of her personal life for your own benefit."

Sensing that the dig was Jacob's final point on the matter, Rachel quietly but hurriedly retreated to her dressing room and pressed her back against the closed door, her heart racing as she tried to reconcile the consequences of what she'd heard.

* * *

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